In a comprehensive interview, Minister of Religion Michael Malchieli welcomes the cooperation with religious Zionism, clarifies that Shas will abide by the agreement to appoint a Zionist rabbi, and that, unlike his predecessor, he is "an official of the Chief Rabbinate"
Nine months after being appointed to the position of Minister of Religious Services, MK Michaeli Malchieli (Shas) refers in an extensive interview to the storm of the prayer on Yom Kippur, the cooperation with Smotrich and his clear intention to delete all the plans of his predecessor in the position, Matan Kahana.
About the difficult sights from Dizengoff Square, Malchieli says: "Everyone should have shrugged it off. There are no things that are beyond dispute."
One of the main issues that the government will need to approve in the coming months is the regulation of the status of yeshiva members: "The issue of the conscription law - in the end, we will have to resolve it, and in the end, we need to come together on the law and it will arrive with understanding. It is a complex law because it needs the approval of Israel's elites, both the IDF and the Ministry of Defense, and the Ministry of Justice, which will have to defend it in the High Court."
Since the establishment of the government between Shas and the religious Zionist party, there has been close cooperation on matters of religion and state, something that parts of the religious-nationalist public view with a critical eye, fearing that the religious services are returning to exclusive ultra-Orthodox control.
"This is not true. Smotrich is really not a 'sucker', he knows how to stand up for his opinions and the interest of the public that sent him."
Minister Malchieli clarifies that the joint work is mutual and that the religious Zionist public remains influential: "There is a very good understanding and cooperation between me and Minister Smotrich and also with him and Aryeh Deri. We promote religious services together, and it is a winning connection."
Regarding the concern of the liberal religious public, Malchieli replies to the question of whether he is also represented in the Ministry of Religion: "The answer is yes. They have received expression and will receive expression."
If this is the case, the Minister of Religious Affairs explains unequivocally that the entire legacy of Matan Kahana will be erased: "They will continue to be canceled. Many non-Orthodox rabbis resented Matan Kahana's moves. All the things he did against the position of the main rabbinate - they must not advance and should be erased from the world.".
"I am a clerk of the Chief Rabbinate and I will do what they tell us. Not like my predecessor who thought he could educate them. I bend my opinions completely under the Chief Rabbis."
Referring to the issue of choosing the chief rabbis, Minister Malchiali wants to make it clear that the understanding with Smotrich will be respected: "Everyone should be calm. All the candidates submitted are all great Torah. Shas is a movement that knows how to honor agreements."
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