Statements made by Union of Right-Wing Parties MP Bezalel Smotrich on the necessity of running Israel according to the Jewish religious law has irked Israelis.
The opposition called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop Smotrich from being appointed as minister of justice.
“The State of Israel will not be a halacha [Jewish religious law] state,” Netanyahu tweeted following the uproar over Smotrich’s remarks.
Sources from Netanyahu’s Likud party said the PM won’t allow the lawmaker to have a portfolio.
Labor lawmwaker Shelly Yachimovich described Smotrich’s statements as dangerous.
Smotrich was speaking about the reason behind his demand for the justice portfolio when he told the state broadcaster during an interview that after years of injustice towards Orthodox Jews it is time that the ministry be led by someone, who is fair to the Jewish religion and codes, and who confers the religious courts in Israel their right to exist and develop.
Netanyahu dismissed Sunday Education Minister Naftali Bennett and Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked from their posts as part of the electoral battle.
Netanyahu's wife, who reportedly holds a grudge towards them, pressured her husband to dismiss them in an effort to undermine them ahead of the upcoming elections.
“Those confronting us should not hold cabinet posts,” she was quoted as saying.
After this, the Union of Right-Wing Parties rushed to demand the two portfolios. Smotrich said that the people have chosen them. So they should not be disappointed.
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