Senior Shas official Asher Medina has pushed back against criticism that his party abandoned the battle over the military draft, while acknowledging that despite its efforts, Shas ultimately failed to secure the legal status of bnei yeshivos during the outgoing Knesset term.
Medina also addressed criticism surrounding a new Shas campaign video depicting a family in which one son serves in the military while his brother learns Torah. The video was subsequently removed.
Speaking in an interview with Yossi Chaim Maimon on Kol Chai’s “Hafuch Al Hafuch” program, Medina said Shas was seeking to directly confront perceptions that the party has become hostile toward soldiers. According to Medina, internal research found that such a perception exists among traditional Israeli voters, prompting the party to address the issue explicitly.
“We are not against the soldiers,” Medina said. “We live among them, soldiers vote Shas, families of soldiers vote Shas.”
According to Medina, the campaign video was intended to portray a reality familiar to many families, in which one member serves in the military while another learns in yeshiva, “and we love everyone and live with everyone.”
Medina also rejected criticism from within the Chareidi community that Shas had not done enough during the last Knesset term to protect the status of bnei yeshivos amid the ongoing draft crisis.
“In terms of the reality, it is an absolute lie,” he said.
Medina maintained that Shas representatives worked throughout the term in Knesset committees, faced protests over their efforts and acted in accordance with the instructions of the Chachmei and Gedolei Yisroel.
At the same time, he conceded that those efforts did not ultimately achieve the party’s central objective.
“Unfortunately, we failed to regulate the status of yeshiva students,” Medina said, blaming the outcome in part on intervention by the judicial system and the attorney general.
As an example, Medina cited legislation intended to address the arrests of bnei yeshivos, which he said passed with the support of 64 Knesset members before subsequently being blocked by an interim court order.
“Ultimately, we can do everything we can with the parliamentary tools available to us,” he said.
Looking ahead to the elections for the 26th Knesset, Medina argued that the next political battle will extend beyond legislation and include the makeup of the Supreme Court and the identity of future justices appointed to the bench.
He said that fight over the future direction of Israel’s judicial system is among the primary reasons he is urging Chareidi voters to turn out for the upcoming election despite disappointment and frustration over what transpired during the previous Knesset term.
{Matzav.com}
