The Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism has urged the parties forming the new Likud-led coalition government not to desert Progressive Judaism on the altar of coalition negotiations. The movement, which is associated with Reform Judaism in Western nations, expressed concern over concessions made by Likud to ultra-Orthodox factions. It warned that if the new government abandons non-Orthodox Jewry, it would alienate itself from most Jews in Israel and abroad.
Meanwhile, Labor MK Yossef Sarid warned that Menachem Begin’s appointment of National Religious Party Minister Zevulun Hammer and Geulah Cohen, a former member of the extremist, Stern-Group, as Minister of Education and Deputy Minister respectively, could have dire consequences. He noted that both support the illegal settlement movement, Gush Emunim. He said the personalities who head the educational system should represent the broader views of the general school network.
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