NRP: NO RULES, PLEASE

The number-two man in the re-born National Religious Party joined the coalition, claiming that he would be its nationalist gauge. In the meantime, while Uri Ariel is the Minister of Housing and Construction, nothing is being built in Yerushalayim. He was recently forced to admit and confirm that even in Yehuda and Shomron, things are not so rosy.

“It’s déjà vu all over again.” That’s what every right-wing activist is claiming these days, as he stands helpless in the face of the new “disengagement” plan. Instead of Ariel Sharon, we have Bibi Netanyahu, and instead of Avigdor Lieberman and Z’vulun Orlev, there’s Naftali Bennett and Uri Ariel. However, apart from the personnel changes, everything appears the same. Netanyahu has proclaimed that he has a disengagement plan, exactly as Sharon did at the outset. He speaks about the establishment of a Palestinian state, withdrawing from 98% of Yehuda and Shomron, and the division of Yerushalayim. Yet, he isn’t just talking; he’s also taking concrete action. Every week, we receive new reports from the continuing negotiations, but Naftali and Uri are still unconvinced. They adhere to the age-old longstanding ideology of the National Religious Party: stay in the government at all costs.

The recent political saga surrounding the apology by the minister of Trade and Industry, NRP/Jewish Home chairman Naftali Bennett, teaches us a great deal about what we can soon expect. He never really intended to resign from the coalition over the prime minister’s declared intentions to uproot settlements. Naftali has an important job. He has to hold Netanyahu’s coalition together until the tractors start moving toward the yishuvim of Yehuda and Shomron. This is exactly what his predecessor, Z’vulun Orlev, did leading up to the expulsion from Gush Katif. Who said then that it’s possible to remain in the Cabinet if it’s only a matter of driving out ten thousand Jewish settlers? Now, we’re talking about the expulsion of one hundred thousand Jews r”l. Yet, Naftali has his senior government post.

Naftali is one thing – after all, he never declared his opposition to negotiations with the terrorists. However, the number-two man in the re-born National Religious Party joined the coalition, claiming that he would be its nationalist gauge. In the meantime, while Uri Ariel is the Minister of Housing and Construction, nothing is being built in Yerushalayim. He was recently forced to admit and confirm that even in Yehuda and Shomron, things are not so rosy.

URI ARIEL DIDN’T INVENT THE WHEEL

In the past, the Rebbe called this party’s representatives “Canaanite slaves.” The Rebbe cried out from the depths of his heart against the NRP ministers, who for generations had displayed their determination to remain in the governing coalition at all cost, selling the People and the Land of Israel wholesale. Bennett’s recent performance of taking an outwardly strong stance, only to have Minister Ariel run frantically to his party chairman and plead with him to apologize before Netanyahu submitted Bennett’s letter of dismissal, is a classic return to National Religious Party history. In a fascinating sicha from the farbrengen of Chaf MarCheshvan 5735, the Rebbe gives a precise explanation why the NRP ministers stay in the government, regardless of the cost, while abandoning the vitally important principles of the Jewish People:

“They complain to me: ‘Why didn’t you give them (NRP party) a Yasher Ko’ach when they resigned (since they had previously complained why they (NRP party) remain glued to their chairs at the cost of destroying the Jewish People r”l ch”v, starting with the destruction of the status of their party, their children, and their grandchildren)? I didn’t want to reply, in order not to transgress the command that ‘one should not open a gateway to the Satan.’ I could only say the true reason: It is close to certain that the resignation is temporary due to compulsion. Afterwards, at the first opportunity (with the greatest possible humiliation), they’ll return through the back door in a shameful and disgusting manner – the main thing is to sit once again on the chair.

“And this was the reason I didn’t want to give praise and thanks, etc., due to the presumption that when they give praise here, by the time it reaches Eretz HaKodesh, they have already unethically returned to their previous positions in order to destroy all that is holy in Israel r”l. The main thing is to receive the title, so he can say that he is a ‘minister in Israel!’

“…Until now, they have carried out their evil plans, and they again sit on the chair, promising that their signatures will be displayed on everything, whether regarding the transfer of portions from Eretz HaKodesh to the Gentiles or the abandonment of portions from our holy Torah (revealing a side to Torah not in accordance with Halacha), etc., etc.”

DECLARATIONS OF SUPPORT IN EXCHANGE FOR MONEY

The Rebbe then turned to those askanim and rabbanim who support parties that remain glued to their chairs around the government table: “And it has reached such a point that [the government] now makes use of the money they received, in order to bribe the religious institutions in Eretz HaKodesh to announce their support [for the government], since they’re crawling [back] onto their chairs – against the position of their rabbanim and against the position of their [community] elders!”

STAYING IN THE GOVERNMENT FOR THE RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS PORTFOLIO

“They stated explicitly and publicly that there are three reasons why they participate in the government. The first reason – (they want) the chair of the Minister for Religious Affairs. The second reason – the chair of the Minister of the Interior. The third reason – the chair of the Minister of Welfare. Afterwards, they said something else: they had already brought them (NRP) money, part of which was used (as mentioned) in order to buy off the journalists and those who print the announcements in the papers, praising those who fight against ‘the word of Hashem – this is Halacha’ with the Jewish People, as a whole or in part, and most importantly, with the concept of the Holy Land, the Holy People, and our Holy Torah.”

At this point, the Rebbe explained exactly which party he means, as the Rebbe referred at the beginning of the sicha to those two government ministers glued to their chairs while destroying their party by themselves: “They complain to me: There are two people who want to destroy the NRP – and it’s clear that they’ll destroy their party – but what is my fervor about saving the NRP? What relevance does this have to me? The answer: What’s relevant to me is only ‘the word of Hashem – this is halacha,’ what’s relevant to me is only the Holy People – every Jew, even those leading those who are listening to what they say r”l, for there are none like them. There are only those who (for whatever reason) received money from [the government] and became complete non-entities due to the money, and thereby do whatever they want. They figure that if the party gets destroyed, they’ll still be able to retain at least half of their votes. Instead of a hundred thousand votes, they’ll have fifty thousand – enough to guarantee seats for these two.

“Ay, what do we do with the Torah? – They don’t care about the Torah, they don’t care about ‘the Sh’china in exile,’ they don’t care about the truth… The main thing is to stay glued to the chair. What will they care if fifty or forty (or even less) from this number remain? And especially that each additional person printing [something] in the paper shows them that perhaps they deceived another Jew.”

THE REBBE SPEAKS ABOUT “SHULAMIS” ALONI

At the conclusion of the sicha, the Rebbe mentioned the resignation of Mrs. Shulamit Aloni from the government – something that the NRP ministers did not do: “Everyone had strength and fortitude to resign from their post: Communists, leftists, Mapam, Mapai, Shulamis [Aloni], etc. (now is not the time to name them all) … The only exceptions are those three or four people, who even when they resigned – it was clear (as mentioned above) that they’re looking for an opportunity when they can grab the chair back by saying, ‘You see that we too can resign. This is a sign that we are the ones who are fit to lead the Jewish People.’

The interesting fact is that in the conclusion of the sicha, we can see a reference to the times in which we now live, when the government wants to withdraw from all of Yehuda and Shomron, and only Abu Mazen’s refusal to accept the offer has saved the Jewish People from the next expulsion: “May it be G-d’s Will that they will no longer have to speak about this matter, since this is the declaration that will eventually come: Every promise that they made – is non-existent, since they have already promised that they want to give away all of Yehuda, they want to give away all of the Shomron, and they’ll stop only if the Gentiles don’t allow it. However, on their part, they’ve already given their approval.

“And it’s not as they say that they’ll stand firm – they have no firmness whatsoever, no one gives them any consideration. It’s just known that these are two or three people they can use to slice up the Torah r”l, entice someone who can put t’fillin on every day and still say that for twenty-five dollars, a Gentile can be registered as a Jew. He can hand over territory to a Gentile – not for security reasons, rather because he wants to keep sitting on the chair he needs for his own honor, etc.

“May it be G-d’s Will that the Gentiles will not agree to this, and they will see that it serves them no purpose, not only in this matter but in all matters, and then people will see what they are. And may it be G-d’s Will that they will do t’shuva in the ways of pleasantness and the ways of peace, and as soon as possible.”