Minister Chaim Katz Fires Moti Babchik Following Harsh Criticism of Netanyahu

In a swift response to public criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Housing and Construction Minister Chaim Katz on Thursday dismissed his chief of staff, Moti Babchik, a senior figure in Agudas Yisroel and close associate of MK Yitzchak Goldknopf.

The dismissal came just hours after Babchik launched a scathing verbal attack on Netanyahu over the handling of the coalition agreements with the chareidi parties. In an interview published Thursday morning in Mishpacha magazine, Babchik accused the prime minister of breaching promises to his chareidi coalition partners and shirking responsibility for the growing political crisis.

“We stood with him all the way and in this term we gave him a fully right-wing government,” Babchik said. “We were loyal to him… He keeps saying, ‘Yes, yes, I’ll take care of it,’ and every time there’s a different excuse. First it was the reform [judicial overhaul], now it’s the war… I signed with you—תתאבד [literally, ‘kill yourself’ over this].”

Babchik blamed Netanyahu personally for failing to uphold the agreements made with the chareidi parties, particularly on issues of budget and yeshiva funding. “There’s no funding for the yeshivos, no new outlook… Even equating chareidi youth groups with those of the general public is written in the coalition agreement, and the Education Ministry still hasn’t done it,” he said.

He rejected any attempts to shift the blame away from the prime minister. “You can’t say ‘we fulfilled everything except the draft clause.’ He didn’t give us that. You can’t point fingers at others. The person responsible is the prime minister. He is the head of Likud, he is the prime minister, he signed the coalition agreement, and he must carry it out.”

Following his dismissal, Babchik issued a statement of defiance, standing by his comments. “No one can silence the truth,” he said. “Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu should look no further than the modern-day Achithofels who advised him on how to deceive the gedolei Yisroel and lie to his loyal coalition partners who stood with Likud through thick and thin—and were repaid with betrayal.”

He added, “The support of the chareidi parties has always been and will continue to be given only to those who act in genuine partnership to protect the Torah world and the values of Judaism and tradition in Israel.”

According to Babchik’s office, despite his firing by Minister Katz, he will continue in his role as chief of staff to MK Yitzchak Goldknopf, chairman of United Torah Judaism, and will remain active in efforts to ensure that Torah learners are not treated as criminals. “He will continue his work to guarantee that in the State of Israel, Torah learners are not turned into offenders and their basic rights are not violated,” the statement said.

{Matzav.com Israel}