Yaakov Sternberg, one of the central activists in Gush Emunim's battle for the Land of Israel, is a rabbi, a graduate of the Mercaz Harav yeshiva and one of the founders of the National Union party, which is now under the leadership of MK Bezalel Smotrich. Sternberg cannot be suspected of any lack of religious Zionist values. This past weekend, he took Smotrich to task: "Smotrich's intention is to make the prime minister and the Likud's lives miserable. From now on, even if he authors a 'Bill to Bring the Messiah,' it should be seen as another attempt to spread fighting and malice in the coalition," he said.
Smotrich, a smart guy, didn't really mean to propose a "Bill to Make Netanyahu and the Coalition Miserable." If he seriously wanted to do that, he knows how. You don't go it alone, but rather with other MKs, mostly from the coalition. That's how it was done at every stage of passing the law to deduct the money the Palestinian Authority pays to terrorists from the tax money Israel collects on behalf of the PA: through joint work by then-chair of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Avi Dichter and MK Elazer Stern from the opposition. Smotrich polluted the legislation from the start, and now he's crying all the way to the microphones.
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Smotrich and Bennett are essentially playing on the same field into which left-wing demonstrators crowded on Saturday night, both in terms of their spirit of contrarianism and the media treating them to supportive, limitless coverage.
Religious Zionism might not necessarily align itself with Bennett and Shaked in Yamina, or with the national-Haredi Smotrich. Most religious Zionist voters have moved to other parties, like the Likud, which has more religious MKs than Yamina. Some even made their way to Shas or United Torah Judaism, which is how Yamina wound up with only six seats. Solid figures were replaced by jumpy, aspirational ones. And the bigger the aspirations, the bigger the rifts and the loss of supporters to other parties.
Bennett's "shadow corona cabinet," which he set up along with notable members of the Left, and the ceaseless exploitation of media outlets that are hostile to the Right in order to attack the government and its leader are not part of the DNA of classic religious Zionism, which is accustomed to helping carry the burden, rather than standing on it and dancing.
The former leaders of religious Zionism were like that. Zevulun Orlev, with his Medal of Distinguished Service, served in the opposition, but with members of the coalition led the move to establish three revolutionary committees: one to found water desalination facilities; another to improve the lot of Holocaust survivors, and the third to increase compensation for the uprooted Gush Katif settlers. Former MK Uri Ariel, the kibbutznik, led from the opposition parliamentary activity that was acceptable to everyone, which prompted Netanyahu to keep him in the government even though he had no parliamentary backing after Ariel's student, Smotrich, booted him out.
Religious Zionism must stop the Yamina leaders' fight against the emergency government. Religious Zionism, which has always demonstrated responsibility toward the nation, needs to send a signal to Yamina MKs: this is not the time for infighting, it's an emergency!
Personal aspirations must be put aside. Recite for them the lesson of the Torah portion Korach, who used the crisis in the people who had left Egypt on their long way to the Promised Land to take over as leader. As a result of that dispute, masses died – of a plague.
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