One of the people having a difficult time accepting the outcome of the Beit Shemesh re-election is Kathy Sheetrit, bureau chief for Transportation Minister (Likud) Yisrael Katz. She is a leading voice calling to divide the city into two, a chareidi municipality and a traditional and non-frum city.
The court-ordered re-election was decisive, and the Shas affiliated mayor, Rabbi Moshe Abutbul won again in an election that was scrutinized to remove any shadow of a doubt of possible election fraud. However, now that the votes have been counted some of the supporters of Eli Cohen are seeking to create a new reality, one that does not include living in a city run by a chareidi mayor.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is opposed to the move, but there are prominent Likud activists backing the calls to secede from Beit Shemesh City Hall. One of the Likud notables backing the plan is Sheetrit, who this week explained her plan on her Facebook page. She wrote “the election proved the need to separate municipalities for there is no other alternative to a split”.
In her description of the mayor she writes, “The extremism comes from his decision-making process and the way he runs the city, his lack of interest in our community. He has not made the slightest effort on our behalf for the non-religious and dati leumi residents. He launched a religious was, a term coined by Abutbul and his friends. The city is an earthquake and has reached the point of no return. The young residents of the city must not lose hope. People must not leave. Each and every one of us must act”.
“There is a solution. [We are] Not willing to fund them. [We] want to return the city to the veteran [residents]”.
Sheetrit continues; “I am giving my part. I am active and will continue to do so. There are communities in the country with 5000 people, and they are independent. Don’t tell us nonsense that communities cannot be divided. We are not second class citizens. Prove to everyone one that one who believes is not afraid! Cease to be silent and work!”
Minister Katz has not commented publically regarding Sheetrit’s statements.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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21 Responses
What a bunch of sore losers. Had they won the mayoralty race they’d be demanding one city instead of a split.
These people are opponents of democracy, make no mistake about it. When the democratic vote doesn’t go their way they start crying “secession”. If it’d be up to them they’d put up a Berlin Wall between the two parts of the city with armed border guards with shoot to kill orders for anyone who dared try to enter “their” city.
In any event it is impractical as RBS A is mixed (as it happens with a larger Chareidi population) and these loser secessionists will want to take away RBS A but wouldn’t be able to, thus splitting themselves.
Is Mrs sheetrit willing to give 51% of the industrial area of bet shemesh to the new city since abutbul won the election with 51%?
Everywhere you look, Too much hate and division -lets work on getting people together…
#1 ujm,
Is it any different from the haredi community’s outcry/protests over the democratically elected government passing the draft law?
#4 kissehchashmal: Opposing legislation is the norm within democracy. Protesting against legislation is the norm within democracy. Secessionist movements after losing an election is not a norm within a democracy.
Unless the secessionist think they are living in Crimea, that is.
#4, the two cases are worlds apart.
In the army’s case, they’re doing it to coerce an entire tzibbur to stray from its time-honoured customs
In Beit Shemesh’s case, 51% of the population has elected a candidate. His election will in mo way impede on the opponent’s camp’s lifestyle. There may be a certain “atmosphere” that will be more prevalent in the city, but nothing concrete will change.
#4- because the draft law involves PRISON time for learning TORAH.. and this is just anti chareidi paranoia. This mayor is very good for ALL of Beit Shemesh.. They got their second elections and STILL lost.
#5 ujm,
As long it is done legally and non-violently, there is nothing inherently anti-democratic about secessionism.
#6 Vuckovicher Chossid,
Will all lifestyles truly be protected (including non time-honoured customs)?
#7 chareidirbs,
I keep hearing this again and again; nobody is being imprisoned for learning torah. Before one’s time of conscription and after the service of the country in which one lives, you are free to learn all day and night. Torah in NO WAY is being outlawed.
#8 kissehchashmal: Can the Chareidim or Arabs of Jerusalem secede from the municipality or is this right only available to your cliche? Can the Chareidim living in your newly seceded town then secede from the new town or only you guys have rights of secession?
How will the borders be determined?
#8, who says they will want to learn Torah after their army service? They should not have to choose one service over the other.
and besides for that, serving in the army b’al korchoch will downgrade your avoidas Hashem, based on relaxed standards of kashrus, shabbos, davening, (listening to) nivul peh, etc.
#10 chareidirbs,
Your question puzzles me. Why wouldn’t they want to learn after their service?
it’s not that they don’t WANT to learn, it’s the fact that after 3 years of not having any learning, you become very rusty at it, then you get married, and it’s extremely difficult to reattain the madreigos you were on prior to that
אם תעזבני יום אעזבך יומיים
kissehchashmal: You have no answers to my question for you in #9?
#14 ujm,
Being that I don’t understand how the word “cliche” fits into your question, I do not have an answer.
But I will repeat my answer from earlier, “As long it is done legally and non-violently, there is nothing inherently anti-democratic about secessionism.”
kissehchashmal:
1. Would you support a secession in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv? Or only the Beit Shemesh faction is to be allowed such a secession?
2. Can residents within your proposed breakaway choose to breakaway from your new municipality or do you reserve that right only for yourselves and no one else?
3. How will the borders of the breakaway be determined and set?
#13 Vuckovicher Chossid,
Nobody said that living a torah life would be easy.
It’s never gonna happen anyway.
Israel is a democratized state.
There were votes and Abutbel was reelected by the majority of the people in a democratic state, it will stay one city and eventualy these minorities opposing torah values
will either adjust or they’ll move out.
#16 ujm,
As long it is done legally and non-violently, there is nothing inherently anti-democratic about secessionism. And I am pro-democracy. Hopefully you can understand that logical construct.
The borders would be determined by many factors. I can imagine it being done in a similar fashion as the way West Virginia broke apart from Viginia in 1863.
#19 kissehchashmal: Are you saying that if this secession were to proceed then each area within Beit Shemesh would get to choose which town they wish to be part of?
As I understand it there is no mechanism in Israel for a town to take a popular vote on sesession with the areas that majority vote to secede becoming a new town while the areas voting against it remaining in the existing town. The only mechanism in Israel, as I understand, is the Interior Minister issuing a fiat as to the “borders”; not allowing a neighborhood-by-neighborhood popular vote.
So which town will RBS A end up in, kissehchashmal?
I suspect that underlying all this is the fact that for decades the secular educational system (and possibly the national religious one also) has been conditioning secular Israelis to hate Chareidim, with the result that even though Abutbul has announced his willingness to accept everyone (even his opponent) into a coalition and let them engage in normal political haggling to get whatever they want, they’re so conditioned to hate Chareidim that they can’t even think of doing that.