Girl Dies of Wounds Sustained in Missile Attack

I will begin this week’s column with the news of another tragedy that has left Eretz Yisroel reeling: On erev Pesach, the Gush Dan region was hit with one of the heaviest missile barrages of the war, and a cluster missile fired into the center of the country resulted in 15 different impact sites. One of those sites was on Rechov Rimon in Bnei Brak, where 14 people were injured, including an 11-year-old girl who was left in critical condition after she was struck by shrapnel. The girl’s father was moderately wounded, and her two brothers were lightly wounded as well. The girl was hospitalized in Tel Hashomer for almost a month, hovering somewhere between life and death, while tens of thousands of people undertook kabbolos on her behalf and the public was asked to daven for her recovery. Sadly, she passed away last Friday. After her death, her name was finally reported in the media: Nesia Karadi. She was listed as the 28th fatality of the Iranian missile barrages. Nesia’s levayah was held on motozei Shabbos in Bnei Brak and attended by a large crowd, including rabbonim and public figures. Speeches were delivered by Rav Michoel Lassry, who is an uncle of the family, and Rav Yigal Cohen.

Nesia’s father, Rav Elazar Elchonon Karadi, delivered a chilling hesped in a voice choked with tears. He thanked the many people who had accompanied the family through their battle for Nesia’s life with tefillos and religious undertakings, and he also expressed gratitude to the hundreds of people who had donated blood. “Your blood will save lives,” he announced. “Nesia was very fortunate. She was the only person in the world who could wake up the Jewish people to do teshuvah.”

Rav Karadi appealed to the public to turn the tragedy into a catalyst for spiritual growth and national strength, and begged the attendees at the levayah to take on kabbolos, even small ones, in memory of his daughter. “I ask our precious nation to continue being strong, saying Tehillim, and learning mishnayos in her memory,” he said. “Make even the tiniest resolution l’ilui nishmas Nesia bas Hila.” Turning to the mitah where his daughter’s body rested, he appealed to her to advocate for Klal Yisroel before the Kisei Hakavod. The family also begged the forgiveness of the nifteres for their failure to save her life. “Ima, your siblings, and I ask for your forgiveness,” Rav Karadi said. “We have done everything in our power for you, but Hashem had different plans…. We are certain that you will watch over our family and help them from Above.”

Supreme Court Orders Sanctions on Bnei Torah

The issue of the plight of Torah learners in Eretz Yisroel, and the government’s relentless persecution of the country’s lomdei Torah, has been occupying our attention for a long time. It is the justices of the Supreme Court who have been largely spearheading those efforts. They were the ones who struck down the previous draft law on the grounds that it was unequal, and they went on to demand that the government arrest “draft evaders.” The judges also insisted that the police must cooperate with the IDF to carry out arrests and that the government is obligated to impose sanctions on bnei yeshivos—and not just any sanctions, but heavy, painful ones. As you probably recall, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara decided to push for draconian measures and hasn’t stopped inventing more and more punishments for people who learn Torah.

At the same time, the court received petitions accusing the government of failing to abide by its ruling that required sanctions on lomdei Torah. The petitioners claimed that this was considered contempt of court. The government, mainly through the cabinet secretary, tried to defend itself, explaining the constraints that prevented the Supreme Court order from being carried out, the intensive efforts that are underway to pass a new draft law to avoid the necessity of sanctions altogether, and the fact that some of the sanctions are ostensibly illegal. However, the attorney general opposed the government’s stance in her response to the Supreme Court. This week, at the cabinet session on Sunday, the government was forced to begin discussing additional sanctions (although no decision was reached), but the judges convened at the same time and announced a series of sanctions that they considered appropriate, which they ordered carried out immediately. These sanctions included revoking benefits on housing purchases, canceling subsidized day care and afternoon programs for school-aged children, and suspending discounts on property taxes and public transportation. The judges’ ruling was based on a seldom-used clause that states, “The court will judge matters that it considers necessary for the sake of justice.” Some have claimed that Justice Sohlberg (who wears a yarmulke) showed mercy by refraining from deciding that the government had actually breached the court’s previous ruling; for the chareidi community, however, this is not much consolation at all.

The Vaad HaYeshivos in Eretz Yisroel, in an unusual step, released a statement in response to the court ruling: “Since the days of our forefathers and throughout our years in exile, the Jewish people have always studied in yeshivos. It is inconceivable that specifically here in Eretz Yisroel, about which the posuk states that ‘the Torah will come forth from Tzion,’ there should be unbearable sanctions imposed on bochurim and yungeleit who toil over the Torah, those who carry on the legacy of our forefathers, with the sole intent of cutting them off from the source of their vitality and of life for Am Yisroel throughout the generations. No such sanctions have ever been imposed on anyone, even those convicted of the most heinous crimes. The students of Torah who rid themselves of the many affairs that human beings pursue, and who kill themselves in the tent of Torah, will continue pursuing their Torah learning with all their might, despite those who seek to interfere with them. The Vaad HaYeshivos will work under the guidance of the gedolei Yisroel in every way to stand at the side of the rabbonim and their talmidim as much as possible. We have always been promised that no weapon brandished against us will succeed, and any tongue that rises against us for judgment will be condemned.”

The statement was sharply worded but has no practical significance. The Vaad HaYeshivos has no power; in fact, no one can overrule the judges. The only solution is to pass a draft law, which is currently under discussion. Will Netanyahu manage to pass a new law when the Knesset returns to work in a couple of weeks? And will the rabbonim accept the law in progress? Only time will tell.

Harsh Reactions and the Need for a Draft Law

The outrage in the chareidi world is evidenced by many of the responses to the judges’ ruling. Aryeh Deri, chairman of the Shas party, wrote, “The Supreme Court’s ruling is an extremely serious assault on the foundations of the existence of Am Yisroel in Eretz Yisroel. This ruling not only harms the Torah world but is a direct attack on the security of the state and the economic resilience of Israel, since our entire existence in our land is based on the spiritual infrastructure of Torah learning and the zechus of lomdei Torah. Without Torah learners, the State of Israel has no future and no right to exist. The Torah has sustained the Jewish people throughout the generations and is the spiritual armor and source of merit that preserves us to this day, due to the merit of those who spend their days immersed in Torah learning. The attempt to place economic sanctions and decrees on lomdei Torah is an unforgivable sin, and any monetary or legal harm to Torah students is essentially a severe blow to the security of the people and to Eretz Yisroel as a whole.”

Yitzchok Goldknopf, chairman of United Torah Judaism, likewise attacked the Supreme Court: “The decision to impose heavy, discriminatory sanctions on lomdei Torah is a ruling with a black flag waving over it. It is the crossing of a major red line, and it is a direct assault on the heart of the Jewish identity of the State of Israel. I call on the prime minister and the party leaders who signed the coalition agreement, in which they pledged to formalize the status of Torah learners, to show leadership and responsibility and to live up to their commitments. It is unthinkable for the government to participate in harming Torah learners on your watch; you must regulate their status immediately.”

Moshe Gafni, chairman of Degel HaTorah, issued a response along similar lines: “The State of Israel is steadily losing its identity as a Jewish and democratic state. From one ruling to the next, from one court session to the next, and from one verdict to the next, the Supreme Court has been working consistently and systematically to harm Torah learners and to limit their place in the state. We will not lend our hand to this. Lomdei Torah are the foundation of our existence as a people, and we will continue learning Torah and bearing the burden of Am Yisroel’s spiritual defense on our shoulders, in any situation and under any conditions.”

Deputy Minister Yisroel Eichler launched an offensive of his own as well: “The dictatorial judges of the Supreme Court have declared war against Jewish children and their parents who live below the poverty line. They have done this by revoking the most basic human rights from them, such as housing, welfare, transportation, and tax discounts. They are attacking the Torah world wildly and with dangerous cruelty. The chareidi minority is helpless against these wicked people, who have the brazen audacity to assume authorities for themselves that they were never granted. The citizens of this state did not choose them and their heresy, and never gave them a license for this.”

Other public figures released statements as well. Minister Orit Struck of the Religious Zionism party (headed by Betzalel Smotrich) attacked the Supreme Court as well, although she also decried the chareidi worldview. Former chief of staff Gadi Eizenkot, on the other hand, proclaimed that the Supreme Court’s ruling does not represent an attack on the Torah world.

As I noted, it seems that the only way to remove the threat looming over the country’s bnei Torah is for a new proper draft law to be passed.

Political Earthquake: Bennett and Lapid Unite

There is so much to write about that I do not know where to begin or how to continue. But if you are interested in the Israeli political map, then the hottest story is undoubtedly the recent announcement by Naftoli Bennett and Yair Lapid that they plan to run jointly in the next election. Some may try to frame this as a mortal blow to the current coalition, on the grounds that the election has already been won by their alliance, but the opposite is true: Bennett and Lapid have joined forces because both are in bad positions. Far from being a harbinger of change, their merger is a sign of desperation and failure.

Naftoli Bennett, at first, seemed like the best hope for everyone who is desperate to unseat Netanyahu. The left and center have no candidates who can rake in 30 or even 20 mandates, while the Likud and Netanyahu are consistently receiving around 25 to 30 mandates in the polls. Together with the chareidim, who have approximately 20 mandates, and the political right, which seems to be worth about 12 to 14 seats in the Knesset, the prime minister would ostensibly have a majority of 61 mandates or more.

Netanyahu has several opponents in the election. There is Yair Lapid with his party, Yesh Atid, which is steadily sinking in the polls and was hovering around the electoral threshold. Benny Gantz’s party, Blue and White, has dropped below the threshold. The leftist party formed by Labor and Meretz, which is headed by Yair Golan, seems likely to receive somewhere between ten and twelve mandates. Yisroel Beiteinu, headed by Avigdor Lieberman, is another opposing party, although there is a strong possibility that he might surprise the electorate and ally with Netanyahu after all. As long as these were the only opponents facing him, Netanyahu was calm. But then Naftoli Bennett returned to the scene, introducing his new party, Bennett 2026, and began to rise in the polls until his party was worth nearly the same number of mandates as the Likud. Another recent development came when Gadi Eizenkot—a former chief of staff of the IDF and former ally of Benny Gantz in Blue and White, who cut his ties with Gantz and dropped out of the Knesset—decided to join the race, and his Yashar party steadily rose, first from six to eight mandates and then further. He has even begun to threaten Bennett’s role as head of the party with the second largest number of seats, after the Likud. Bennett knows how to read the polls and understands that he is in a bad position. This weekend, for instance, Matan Kahana, who was a minister in the Lapid-Bennett government, announced that he plans to join Eizenkot’s Yashar party rather than Bennett’s.

To make a long story short, Bennett understands politics and realizes that his party was heading downhill, and Lapid understands politics as well and sees that his own popularity is waning. The two men therefore decided to join forces in the hope that it would add an injection of momentum that would elevate both parties. Then they invited Eizenkot and Lieberman to join them as well, hoping that the alliance of all four would succeed in outperforming the Likud. Is that a realistic possibility? My answer to that question would be: Maybe, but more likely not. Moreover, I would say that Lapid and Bennett announced their union too early, and they will probably lose even more of their standing before the election. Most political commentators believe that their alliance mainly benefits Gadi Eizenkot, which isn’t bad for Netanyahu, since Eizenkot hasn’t yet said a word about whether he would join a Netanyahu-led government after the election. Moreover, some commentators believe that Bennett lost several mandates after he announced the union, since many right-wing voters who might have supported his party, perhaps before they are tired of Netanyahu, are bound to change their minds after his alliance with Lapid.

Zero Plus Zero Equals Zero

It is also important to note that there has already been a government headed by Bennett and Lapid. That government’s power rested on the support of an Arab party (headed by Mansour Abbas), a state of affairs that was utterly unprecedented in Israeli history. Bennett had declared time and again during the election campaign that he was aligned with the right and that he would never appoint Lapid prime minister; he even publicly signed a document making a binding commitment to that effect. And not only did he violate his promise by entering into a rotation agreement that allowed Lapid to take the office of prime minister, but he also was the first prime minister in history to bring an Arab party into the coalition, not to mention caving to their demands for huge sums of government funding. The Bennett-Lapid government is known as one of the worst governments in Israeli history. With Lapid heading the Ministry of Finance and Matan Kahana controlling the Ministry of Religious Affairs, the government did everything in its power to harm chareidim and Yiddishkeit.

This week, announcing the merger of the two parties, Bennett wrote, “Former Prime Minister Naftoli Bennett and former Prime Minister Yair Lapid announce the first step in the process of reforming the State of Israel: the merger of the Yesh Atid party and the Bennett 2026 party into a unified party headed by former Prime Minister Naftoli Bennett. This process will bring about the unification of the reformation bloc, putting an end to internal battles and making it possible for all efforts to be invested in a decisive victory in the upcoming elections and leading Israel to the necessary reforms.”

Their tactics are completely clear: Their goal is to broaden the camp of Netanyahu’s opponents on the right and left alike, introducing new groups and new alliances into the camp and thus leading to a political revolution. Lapid believes that the key to succeeding in the upcoming election is for the political center to rally around Bennett, a liberal member of the right. They understand that it is necessary to put an end to the internal squabbling in the anti-Netanyahu camp, to work together, and to focus on the single goal of unseating Netanyahu. It is also quite easy to understand why Lapid agreed to hand the party’s reins to Bennett. First, as I mentioned, it is a matter of momentum; Lapid hopes that merging with Bennett’s party will put an end to the trend of voters defecting from Yesh Atid to Eizenkot’s party. As for Bennett’s motivation, he understands that as an existing party with 24 seats in the current Knesset, Yesh Atid has access to significant government funding for its campaign, along with tens of thousands of party activists, a highly developed infrastructure, and active party offices.

Thus, the merger between the two parties is the hot topic in political news this week, but as I mentioned, there is no reason for handwringing over it. This merger is a union between a party that is plummeting toward the electoral threshold of four mandates (Yesh Atid) and a new party (Bennett 2026) that has been losing mandates in the polls every week and has already shrunk from 22 seats in the Knesset to ten.

Or, as someone once put it, zero plus zero equals zero.

Shocking Revelation: Netanyahu Secretly Received Medical Treatment

Last Friday, the citizens of Israel discovered that Prime Minister Netanyahu had undergone an operation and radiation treatment for a small cancerous growth. The prime minister publicized this information along with his annual medical report, which is published by the Prime Minister’s Office. According to the information provided by his office, Netanyahu first received treatment for a growth in 2024 and underwent regular imaging since that time. Several months ago, new tests showed a small growth, which was surgically removed, and the prime minister then began receiving radiation treatments. This information came from Professor Aharon Popovtzer, the director of the Sharrett Institute of Oncology in Hadassah Medical Center.

This type of story could never have occurred in America, where nothing is ever kept secret. The doctor who treated Netanyahu added that the condition appears to have resolved. When he was asked about the fact that it had been covered up for so long, he explained that Netanyahu’s medical report had been delayed for two months at the prime minister’s request, to prevent it from being publicized during the war and serving as fodder for further Iranian propaganda. Netanyahu framed it as a small medical problem that has been completely resolved. He added, “A year and a half ago, I underwent a successful surgery, and I have been routinely monitored ever since. At my last checkup, the doctors discovered a tiny growth of less than a centimeter, and I underwent a focused treatment that removed the problem. Boruch Hashem, I have overcome this as well.”

Netanyahu’s initial operation, a year and a half ago, has now been revealed to have been dealing with a cancerous growth. The prime minister was treated with radiation for cancer, and no one was aware of it. Netanyahu himself likewise did not report it. On December 29, 2024, the surgeon who treated Netanyahu emerged from the operating room and announced to the cameras, “There is no concern of malignancy or cancer.” But we now know that Netanyahu had cancer even at that time. Did Netanyahu, his office, his doctor, and his hospital all mislead the public? The media has reminded us that this wasn’t the first such incident: Three years ago, when Netanyahu was rushed to Tel Hashomer Hospital in the middle of the night, the doctors reported that he was suffering from dehydration and his heart was completely healthy. But we later learned that Netanyahu received a pacemaker during that hospitalization. (Nevertheless, he hasn’t actually had to use it; it was simply implanted in case the need arises.) Netanyahu has been criticized for failing to follow the standard protocol in Israel; ever since the tenure of Ariel Sharon, it has been accepted that the prime minister will report to the public on his health once a year and will be transparent about his ability to continue holding his position. When Ehud Olmert was prime minister, he received the same diagnosis and reported it to the public immediately.

Herzog in Kazakhstan

President Yitzchok Herzog is in the headlines, and it is all because of a story that appeared in the New York Times this week claiming that he had decided against granting a pardon to Netanyahu. Instead of a pardon, the article claimed, Herzog plans to promote a plea agreement. Interestingly, the president’s office confirmed the report (and perhaps they were the ones who leaked it in the first place).

But if we are speaking about Herzog, perhaps we should add something on a positive note: Yitzchok Herzog left Israel this week for a two-day trip to Kazakhstan. I received a copy of his itinerary, which left me with a couple of impressions. First of all, I could see that the president was working hard; it was clearly a business trip and not merely a thinly disguised vacation. To be fair, Herzog is very skilled at public relations and is spearheading the effort to maintain Israel’s public image in the international sphere at a time when the country isn’t exactly very popular, to put it mildly. Second, I must applaud the person who prepared the itinerary for Herzog’s tour, who did an excellent job. Israeli officials often seem to ignore the local Jewish communities when they travel abroad, which naturally tends to be detrimental to those communities’ standing in their respective countries. Herzog’s trip was a welcome exception.

Here is an overview of the presidential trip: The president and his entourage took off on Monday night at 3:00 (which means that they had a sleepless night). They stayed in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Estonia, which I imagine must be a fairly decent hotel, arriving at 2:00 in the afternoon and setting out an hour later for a reception at the presidential palace. The group returned to the hotel at 6:00 and then made sure to arrive at the Sheraton Hotel at 7:00 for an event celebrating the 78th anniversary of Israel’s independence, which was held with the president of Kazakhstan, the chairman of its parliament, and the Israeli ambassador to Kazakhstan, Yoav Bistritzky. Herzog’s media entourage included a religious photojournalist named Yishai Yerushalmi, who has been responsible for many photographs from important events in Eretz Yisroel that were published in this newspaper.

On Tuesday, the delegation got up early in the morning to daven Shacharis at the Ohel Rachel shul. They were asked to bring their luggage with them and to check out from the hotel at that time. At the shul, they met with a large group of local Jewish leaders: the chief rabbi of Kazakhstan, Rav Shaya Cohen, and the chief rabbi of Estonia, Rav Shmuel Kot, both of whom I have known since they were Chabad shlichim, as well as Rav Assaf Feinstein, Rav Asher Tomarkin, Rav Menachem Mendel Zelmanov, Rav Mordechai Marzov, and Rav Aryeh Reichman. The meeting also included the two leaders of the Jewish community, Albert Shimoni and Alexander Baron. This was followed by speeches and tefillos in the shul. The delegation’s next stop was the National Museum of Kazakhstan, followed by the International Center for Artificial Intelligence. The official visit ended with a round table discussion on the subject of “innovation and collaboration.” The group left the country on their return flight to Israel at 2:00 in the afternoon. As you can see, it was an exhausting visit with barely a minute to rest, and much of it involved the local shul and rabbonim. For that, Yitzchok Herzog certainly deserves to be applauded.

A New Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv

After the position of chief rabbi of the city of Tel Aviv was left vacant for eight years, Rav Zevadiah Cohen, who served as the head of the botei din in Tel Aviv and a rov in the city, was appointed last Sunday to fill that position. Rav Cohen, the brother of Rav Zamir Cohen of Hidabroot, is a well-known and highly regarded dayan. It was clear in advance that he was bound to receive the position, especially since both the previous chief rabbi, Rav Yisroel Meir Lau, and Mayor Ron Chuldai voiced their support for him in recent years. (Rav Lau was forced to retire from the position eight years ago on account of his age; Chuldai’s support can probably be attributed to a request from Aryeh Deri and the Shas party.) The election was repeatedly postponed in response to petitions to the Supreme Court from various other candidates who hoped to gain from the delay. The leftists in Tel Aviv had other preferred candidates, whom they consider “Zionists” or who have served in the army, including some who spoke out in favor of women. I won’t bother listing the names of the candidates supported by liberal and anti-religious elements.

The position of chief rabbi of Tel Aviv is important in its own right, but there is another dimension of significance to it, as many rabbonim who held the position in Tel Aviv went on to become chief rabbis of Israel, including Rav Ovadiah Yosef and Rav Shlomo Amar. The election in Tel Aviv was held under the supervision of a committee headed by Rav Yaakov Zamir, a former dayan on the Bais Din Hagadol. The 61-member electoral body consisted of representatives of the city council, public officials, and representatives of the Minister of Religious Affairs.

Rav Zevadiah Cohen, a talmid of Yeshivas Porat Yosef, was favored by Rav Ovadiah Yosef and recently received the approbation of the gedolei Yisroel for his new position. He received 37 votes in the election, while his main opponent, who was presumably the favored candidate of the left, received 21 votes. There were other candidates as well, but it was clear that none of them stood a chance of receiving the position. Twelve of those candidates didn’t receive a single vote, and one of them, Rav Aryeh Levin, a rov in Tel Aviv and grandson of the famed tzaddik of Yerushalayim, received three votes. The chareidi community was thrilled with the news of Rav Zevadiah’s election; the unmistakable lesson was that candidates who try to ingratiate themselves with the left and the chilonim are bound to suffer a downfall.

How Can Jews Spy for Iran?

I have written in several previous columns about the phenomenon of Israelis spying for Iran. In most cases, these were youths who fell for the temptation to earn a few pennies, making the mistake of thinking that they could outsmart the anonymous malefactors who contacted them by phone. But there were also some adults, mostly immigrants, who agreed to undertake dangerous tasks rather than merely taking pictures of houses or streets. This week, however, brought a more dramatic development: The military prosecution filed an indictment against two soldiers serving as technicians in the air force for carrying out severe security offenses on behalf of Iranian intelligence forces. According to the indictment, the two soldiers were in contact with their Iranian handlers for several months and carried out an assortment of tasks under the direction of Iranian intelligence in exchange for monetary compensation. The two suspects were arrested in March in a joint operation of the Shin Bet, the Israel Police, the miliary police, and the IDF’s information security network. The severity of their actions was evident in the information they relayed to Iran: One of the suspects transferred classified materials from his military training, which were directly connected to Israel’s fighter jet fleet, to an Iranian agent. He also transferred documentation of facilities and area within the military base where he served. The military prosecution has accused the two soldiers of severe security offenses. One of them is facing charges of aiding an enemy during wartime, transferring information to an enemy, and facilitating contact with a foreign agent. The second soldier is accused of maintaining contact with a foreign agent and transferring information to an enemy. The two soldiers tried to defend themselves by claiming that they lost contact with their handlers after refusing to carry out tasks that involved using weapons. At the same time, security officials revealed that even after the Iranian operative broke contact with them, the soldiers did not halt their efforts to renew contact with him, with the goal of trying to continue profiting from their activities.

In the wake of this scandal, Israeli security services warned the public again about Iran’s efforts to make contact with Israeli citizens on social media and through other means, vowing to continue working with resolve to locate and thwart any attempts at terror or espionage in the State of Israel and to bring to justice anyone who chooses to harm the security of the state.

Did the Minister of Defense Lie to the Knesset About a Chareidi Prisoner?

We all remember Shabbos Zachor this year as the day when the war with Iran began. We also remember it as the day when a chareidi detainee in Prison 10 was denied the opportunity to hear the leining of Parshas Zachor by prison staff. Yoav Ben-Tzur loudly decried the incident on the Knesset floor, and he received the following response from Minister May Golan on behalf of Defense Minister Yisroel Katz: “The IDF’s detention system provides accommodations and respect to all populations, including the chareidi population. The separate wing of the military prison holds individuals who are under observation due to dangerous behavior. For reasons of safety and security, it is impossible to permit minyanim for prayer in this wing; however, individual tefillah is permitted. For that purpose, Chumashim are provided upon request to inmates in the wing.”

I found this response fairly bewildering. If these is no minyan, then the prisoner cannot hear Parshas Zachor. It makes no difference if “individual prayer” is permitted or if Chumashim are available. But it gets worse. The minister continued, “For the sake of privacy, I cannot divulge the circumstances of the imprisonment of the inmate to whom MK Ben-Tzur referred. At the same time, I must emphasize two facts. First, an examination of the facts indicates that the prisoner never requested to hear Parshas Zachor. Had he done so, the rov of the prison would have provided a halachic solution. Second, in ordinary prison facilities, there is a large, well-appointed shul with a range of sifrei Torah and religious books. Prisoners who are placed in the wing for constant supervision and to prevent unusual behavior would endanger the other occupants of the prison and the command staff.”

Again, this sounds like doubletalk. Was there a minyan? If not, what could the prison chaplain have done? And if there was a solution, why wasn’t it implemented? In my mind, it seems that someone was trying to cover up a mistake. Someone manufactured this nonsensical response and passed it up through the hierarchy until it reached the minister’s office and was presented in the Knesset, with the hope that it would put an end to the story. But that hope will be dashed. The Shas party will continue investigating and pursuing the matter until the guilty parties are punished.