In light of Health Minister Yaakov Litzman’s visit to the United States during which he met with senior officials, speaking in English, Kikar Shabbos News decided to determine who among chareidi elected officials in Knesset are capable of speaking English, at least on the level of giving an interview. Kikar called many but not all of the chareidi Members of Knesset.
· Aryeh Deri (not reached but aides say no)
· David Azoulai – no
· Meir Porush – no (Wasn’t able to speak on the phone but insists when abroad his English is fine)
· Menachem Eliezer Moses (not reached – aides say English is not his strong side)
· Meshulam Nahari – no
· Moshe Gafne – no
· Uri Maklev – no
· Yaakov Litzman – yes
· Yaakov Margi – no
· Yisrael Eichler (not reached – aides report he understands but if the matter is important, he will enlist the assistance of an interpreter)
· Yitzchak Cohen (yes)
· Yitzchak Vaknin – no
· Yoav Ben-Tzur – no
It is pointed out that when the correspondent on the phone spoke with Litzman and identified himself from a chareidi internet site, Litzman stated he does not speak with the internet.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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6 Responses
What about other MK’s do Charedi MK’s speak english on the same percentage as other non Charedi MK’s or on a lesser percentage
Why visit or come to America without language skills.
Yakov Litzman was born in brooklyn and lived here for many years before moving to israel. Being the Gerrer Rebbe’s right hand man gave him the position on the Agudah list. I know the whole Lizman family well, good friends, greta people.
The Kikar HaShabat journalist spoke with a heavy English accent – no wonder they could not understand ?
Yep…
Definitely my first choice to represent me and my families best interests in a way that seems intelligent.
#3 theprof1: according to wikipedia, “Litzman was born in 1948 to Polish survivors of the Holocaust, in a displaced persons camp in Germany. When he was two years old, the family immigrated to the East New York section of Brooklyn, and then to the Borough Park section of Brooklyn, where he grew up.”