Politics in Israel - Parties - National Religious Party
The National
Religious Party (Hebrew: Mafdal, מפד"ל ) is an Israeli political party
representing the religious Zionist movement. Mafdal is an acronym for
Miflaga Datit Le'umit, מפלגה דתית לאומית.
Religious Zionism: Background
The Religious Zionist Movement (RZM for short) is an Orthodox faction
within the Zionist movement which combines a belief in the importance of
a Jewish state in the land of Israel with a religious way of life. It is
contrasted with secular Zionism on the one hand and anti-Zionist
Orthodox movements on the other. The founder and main ideologist of the
RZM was Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, who urged young religious Jews to
settle in Israel and called upon the secular Labour Zionists to pay more
attention to Judaism. Rabbi Kook saw Zionism as a part of a divine
scheme which would result in a resettling of the Jewish people in its
homeland, Israel, and the coming of the Messiah.
History
The Mafdal was created after Hapoel Ha-Mizrachi ("The Workers Religious
Centre") and Ha-Mizrachi ("The Religious Centre") merged in 1956. The
founders of the Mafdal were Yosef Burg and Haim Moshe Shapira, who
focused its activity mainly on the position of the Jewish religion
within the framwork of Israeli society. Throughout the Mafdal's
existence it has attempted to preserve the relevance of Judaism on
issues such as Israeli personal status laws, education, culture, and
municipal issues such as prohibitions on the selling of non-Kosher food
(in prescribed areas, and occasionally throughout a given municipality),
prohibiting transportation and public activities on the Sabbath, and so
forth.
The Mafdal has operated a trade union (Hapoel Ha-Mizrahi), a newspaper
(Ha-Tzofe) and a youth-movement (Bnei Akiva). The newspaper and the
youth movement still exist today, in sharp contrast to other party
newspapers such as Davar or Al Ha-Mishmar that lost their respective
parties' backings and eventually closed down.
Around 1969, a new generation rose in the Mafdal, led by the late Zvulon
Hamer and by Yeuda Ben-Meir, called the youth (Hebrew: הצעירים), which
demanded that the party pay more attention to socioeconomic issues in
addition to its customary topics of interest. They were also to lead the
Mafdal into the right-wing of Israeli politics. Perhaps ironically,
Yosef Burg outlived Zvulon Hamer, who died of a heart attack in 1997.
The Mafdal participated in all the governments of Israel until 1992. It
was considered during the majority of this period to be a centrist
party, interested mainly in religious matters and impervious to the
left-right division of the Israeli public. Indeed, the longtime
cooperation between the Israeli Labour Party and the Mafdal is sometimes
referred to as the historic league (Hebrew: הברית ההיסטורית). The seeds
of change were sown in 1967, when Israel's victory in the Six-Day War
spawned messianic trends among religious Israeli Jews that would end up
moving much of this population to the political right, finally forcing
the corresponding political parties to follow suit. Today the Mafdal is
a strictly right-wing party which would find difficulty working in a
coalition with the Labour party, much less with the more left-wing
parties such as Meretz.
From its inception the Mafdal maintained an almost constant number of 12
members of the Israeli Knesset, until 1981 when it shrank to 6 and has
never fully recuperated. The reasons are probably diverse, and have to
do with an overall reduction in its natural voting population, the
moderate Orthodox Jews; with its progressive turn towards the
right-wing; the growing importance of the right-left schism in Israeli
politics; and the rise of Orthodox Sephardic parties such as Tami and
later Shas.
The Ideology of the Mafdal
Main Principles
Mafdal is a Zionist party and states that Israel is a "Jewish democratic
state". Mafdal's main goal is to contribute as much as it can to the
state of Israel and influence its character to be more Jewish, including
to fight for the protection of Israel and maintain Israel's security.
"The core belief “the Land of Israel for the People of Israel according
to the Torah of Israel” commits the N.R.P. to doing everything possible
to further the security and integrity of the Land of Israel. The N.R.P.
aspires to influence policy from within the government, and thus
continue to safeguard Eretz Israel."
Unlike the Haredi Jewish parties (Shas and United Torah Judaism) the
Mafdal does not promote Medinat Halacha, a theocracy run according to
the Jewish law. Mafdal wants to keep Israel's democratic character and
make the Israelis better people and better Jews by acting as role-models
and teaching them Judaism and tradition with love and kindness. Also,
Mafdal holds that Haredi Jews must also complete 3 years of mandatory
military service.
Mafdal also emphasises national unity and vows to work as a bridge
between the different parts of Israeli society.
"Religious and secular, Sephardim and Askenazim, right and left,
old-times and new immigrants – we are all one people. The N.R.P. works
toward national unity, absorption of immigration, and bringing people
together from all sectors of the population. Without hatred and without
coercion. Gently, pleasantly, and with a smile."
They call this principle Ahavat Israel אהבת ישראל (Love of Israel).
Mafdal is the patron of most of the national religious schools (חינוך
ממלכתי-דתי), which teach both Judaism and general mandatory educational
subjects such as mathematics, English, Literature, physics, biology etc.
It even sponsors some pre-military schools for giving higher education
to future IDF officers and commanders. Besides funding and patronising
national religious schools, it also supports Yeshiva schools and Beit
Midrash schools, places dedicated solely to learning the Torah. They
also run "Yeshivot Hesder", where religious soldiers combine combat
military service with learning Torah.
"The N.R.P. actively promotes Torah in Israel and strengthens national
religious institutions: Zionist rabbinical training institutes, Zionist
Kollels, Yeshivot gevohot, Hesder Yeshivot, Yeshiva high schools, and
more. The N.R.P. encourages Zionist rabbis to take on active roles as
teachers in Yeshivot, and as spiritual leaders in cities and in
neighborhoods."
Mafdal believes that the land of Israel is holy and belongs to the Jews
on the basis of God's promise to Abraham and later to Isaac and Jacob.
They believe it is God's will to settle all the land of Israel and
nurture it. This principle has great impact on Mafdal policy toward the
disputed territories and the Palestinian issue.
Religion and State
Mafdal is against the separation of religion and state and believes that
Israel should keep its special Jewish character and enhance its
commitment to the Jewish heritage.
Mafdal argues that affairs of personal status (such as marriage,
divorces and burial) should be kept under the authority of the Rabbis
(or other religious clerics for non-Jews).
Mafdal claims that the Jewish state must show respect for the Jewish
religion by preserving the Sabbath and Kosher food in its institution
and organizations (such as the IDF, public transportation, the police
and governmental companies such as El Al national airline).
Mafdal calls for reforms to Israeli law such that only Orthodox
conversion would be valid for the purposes of granting citizenship under
the Israeli Law of Return. This is a controversial position — it is
upheld by all religious parties in Israel (there are few reform or
conservative Jews in Israel) but some secular parties claim that it
would undermine Israel's connections with worldwide, and especially
American Jews.
Within Israel, Mafdal advocates that the Rabbinate must act to ease the
procedures for non-Jews who want to convert, following the Neeman
Committee (Hebrew: ועדת נאמן) recommendations. It also calls for the
restoration of the nationality (לאום Leom, in Hebrew language) clause in
the Israeli identification card. Both have to do with a recent debate
about Russian immigrants were suspected of not being Jews. Mafdal found
itself in this debate on the same side as the secular parties, and
opposing the views of the Haredi parties and particularly Shas.
The conscripton of Yeshiva students is a particularly sensitive issue in
Mafdal's rhetoric. Historically Mafdal initiated the regulations
allowing Yeshiva students to avoid military service and was its
strongest supporter for years. This come in conflict with the Mafdal's
ideology and its supporters as the party moved to the right, and as the
number of such students rose sharply leading to allegations that many
were not really students. Today Mafdal explicitly states that
participation in the IDF is a Mitzvah and a moral obligation (יא), and
stresses that its "finest youth... serve in the elite commando and
combat units in the IDF" [1]. However, it does not reject any of the
current arrangements, nor suggest limiting number of said students in
any way.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the settlements
Mafdal's views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can be summarized as
follows
* There will only be one state between the Jordan River and the
Mediterranean Sea – the State of Israel. No independent national Arab
entity (such as a putative Palestinian state) will exist within these
borders
* No part of Israel will be given over to a foreign government or
authority.
However, Mafdal does agree on giving the Palestinian Arabs a
self-governing autonomy, subject to Israel's authority only in matters
of security and foreign affairs (borders, diplomacy). That, of course,
without the dismantling of the settlements.
Mafdal reacted to the recent outbreak of violence by demanding harsh
military response to "root out terror infrastructure". It also called to
disband the Palestinian Authority and to deport the PLO back to Tunis.
Mafdal believes that Israel can stop Palestinian violence through the
use of military force.
Mafdal uses mostly religious discourse to justify these positions. They
stress that Judea and Samaria were parts of the ancient kingdom of
Israel and hence rightfully belong to Israel. Furthermore, Mafdal views
the settlements as an upholding of the Mitzvah of settling the land of
Israel. Many of its supporters and parliament members are settlers.
Social issues and Welfare
Mafdal does not hold a complete economic ideology (such as Marxism or
Capitalism). However, Mafdal believes that Israeli society and the state
of Israel should support the poor and the needy. This, they said, is
derived from the Mitzvot of the Torah. Mafdal's most notable figure in
this respect in Zevulun Orlev, the current Minister of Labor and Social
Welfare. However, this issue is not high on Mafdal's agenda or
rhetorics.
Members and supporters
Knesset members
Mafdal has 6 seats in the current Knesset (16th Knesset). The member of
parliament are:
1. Tat-Aluf Ephraim Eitam (Efi Fine) - the head of Mafdal, former
general and a war hero in the IDF (earned a medal of honor עיטור המופת
in the Yom Kippur War). Has M.A. in political science and international
relations.
2. Zevulun Orlev - A teacher, considered to be the most hardworking
dedicated Knesset members, won the award of the Best legistlator of the
15th Knesset. As a soldier, Orlev earned a medal of honor for bravery
and resourcefulness in the Yom Kippur War.
3. Shaul Yaalom - the head of Mafdal Knesset faction. One of the most
experienced Knesset member of the Mafdal
4. Rabbi Izhake Levi - a Rabbi and a teacher. The most senior and
experienced Knesset member from the Mafdal.
5. Gila Finklestein - was a principal of the religious high school
Zeitlin צייטלין in Tel Aviv.
6. Nisan Salomianski - a physicist and qualified for Rabbinate.
Supporters
Mafdal supporters are comprised mainly of religious Zionists, who are
ideologically religious Jews, which obey all the laws and commandment
(Mitzvah) of Judaism. They are considered as highly-motivated and
disciplined soldiers and have excellent reputation of contributing to
the Israeli state and the Israeli society. However, they are idealist
and very stubborn concerning ideology issues. Many of them are living in
West Bank settlements.
"Wherever you look, you see them. Members of the national religious
community, with the knitted kippot on their heads. In academia, in
economic life, in the educational system, in hi-tech, medicine, the
courts, the I.D.F., even in the media. Each one of them doing their bit
of kiddush Hashem in daily endeavors."
The religious Zionists can be recognized by their colorful hand knitted
yarmulkah (skull-cap, כיפה ) and therefore their nickname is הכיפות
הסרוגות ("Ha-Kippot Ha-Srugot", lit. "The Knitted Yarmulkhas").
Criticism
There is a lot of critism that the Mafdal is focused too much on the
Israeli settlements in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and neglects
other issues such as education, social responsibility and Ahavat Israel.
Critics from the Left insist that Mafdal's stubbornness on keeping the
settlements is an "obstacle for peace" while critics from the Right say
Mafdal isn't pressuring enough to use more military power against
Palestinian terrorism.
Critism from religious parties such as Shas and Agudat Israel scorn
Mafdal for sitting in the coalition with an ultra-secular party Shinui
(which is often described as "anti-religious") and not doing enough to
keep the Jewish character of Israel. For example, they state that Mafdal
shows little, if any, resistance or dismay, against Internal Minister
Avraham Poraz's decision not to enforce the prohibition of selling bread
during Passover.
Despite all the criticism, Mafdal has a reputation of honesty and
dedication to its parliamentary duties. None of its Knesset members has
been blamed in corruption.
From:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Religious_Party
Back to Politics in Israel
|
|
