Israel Matzav

Jewish Home party: Voting your conscience is 'immoral'

In an earlier post, I reported on how the coalition parties had signed an agreement that they would produce every last vote in favor of three bills that are being brought for approval this week. The three bills are electoral reform (already approved), the Haredi draft and the referendum bill.

Now, the whole house of cards may collapse. This evening, Jewish Home MK Yoni Chetboun, who has thus far been a straight shooter, announced that he will vote against the Haredi draft bill. 

“I will oppose the Enlistment Bill. This bill was born in sin, as part of a wave of anti-religious legislation aimed at challenging the Jewish identity of the state,” he declared.

 ...

On Monday, Chetboun revealed that he, and other MKs with similar views, had made “holes” in the Enlistment Bill through behind-the-scenes parliamentary work. “What they were hoping for and the product we brought to the Shaked Committee were completely different,” he declared.

His Jewish Home colleagues are furious.

A statement from the Jewish Home faction said that Chetboun agreed to vote in favor of the bill just one day earlier. “The Jewish Home decided yesterday in a faction vote to support the Enlistment Bill and the National Referendum Bill, and MK Chetboun supported that decision too,” according to the statement.

“Any vote against the faction is immoral, anti-social and inappropriate,” it continued, adding, “The Jewish Home faction will not tolerate a blow to the party and its members. This will have serious consequences.”

Sources with ties to the party informed Arutz Sheva that if Chetboun follows through on his plan to vote against the bill, the Jewish Home is expected to force him out of all official Knesset roles, including his position as Deputy Speaker of the Knesset.

They accused Chetboun of “undermining the hesder yeshivas and the National Referendum law just because he wants to make headlines.” and called on him to retract his statement.

Immoral? Voting your conscience is 'immoral'? Voting to prevent an irreparable divide in the nation is 'immoral'? Someone needs to learn a little morality.

Labels: draft, God, Haredim, IDF, Jewish Home party, Yoni Chetboun

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:05 PM