This is just an aside...but regarding the commonly used pejorative phrase "like rats abandoning a (sinking) ship"...

The fact is, rats will definitely and absolutely abandon a ship at once when they sense it is going to sink. This is not despicable, it is 100% sensible and rational, and only a rat who was a complete idiot in rat terms would NOT abandon a sinking ship.

I mention it because the phrase gets used out of context a lot. Rats should not be criticized for absndoning the ship.

The characterization of people as "rats" is a separate concern, of course, and has its own implications, which are clearly negative. I think of Perle as a larger and much more dangerous animal than a rat. Frum? Well, yes, perhaps he could be termed a rat...a jackal...something like that. ;-)