Back in May 2010, radio host Gabi Gazit was fined NIS 30,000 for referring to the chareidi community as “leeches and worms”, just one example of his regularly aired diatribe against chareidim and settlers, two sectors frequently targeted as recipients for his hateful diatribe.
In a High Court ruling earlier this week (4300/10) in response to a suit filed by Moshe Shorek against Gazit, Channel 2 and others; the court rejected claims of libel and the petition which sought to have the court compel the state attorney general to launch an investigation against Gazit.
Justice Asher Gronis preferred not to revisit Gazit’s remarks as to prevent them from espousing their unwanted tone for a second time. Gronis stated such opinions are undesirable and have no place in the community, certainly not over the airwaves, but he feels the question here is if the court should involve itself in a decision made by Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein or not. Weinstein already ruled a criminal investigation is not warranted.
Officials in the attorney general’s office explain the law prohibiting libelous statements against an entire population was never used, and there is a fear that moving ahead here against Gazit would set a precedent that would result in lawsuits against one another from both sides. The attorney general also feels that Gazit’s comments do not represent a violation of laws prohibiting incitement since chareidim and settlers do not represent an ‘ethnic group’ or ‘race’ as stipulated in the law.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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9 Responses
Anti-Chareidi racism is not only acceptable in the “State”, but is actually encouraged.
i am not defending what he said in anyway…however….if you lived lets say in Brooklyn….and all the Italian’s decided due to their religious beliefs they do not want to work…. and not only dont they want to work, they want all the whites, blacks, spanish people to support them and take care of all their needs (school’s, doctor’s hospitals etc) what would you say? Get a Job….face reality… you cant stay home all day on another account… the same thing is happening here in Israel…. you have 2 segments of the population who arent working… hariedim and arabs… however, as a rule, at least the arabs try to work and get jobs…. their is NO excuse for a jew not to work… the chafetz chaim worked, millions of other rabonim worked… there is ZERO excuse and its completely not acceptable…. the result of a large percentage of the chariedi population not working has resulted in tremendous “Anti chariedi” feeling by the rest of the country…. the rest of the country is taxed 40+ percent, serve in the army for 3+ years..its only fair that EVERYONE contributes evenly
NOTE that the Israeli Supeme Court did not rule that “Free speech” prevails over “Hate speech” (as would be the case under American law). They merely decided that it was at the discretion of the prosecutor which “Hate speech” to prosecute, which is a political decision. If a Hareidi used similar names to attack the hilonim (or if a zionist using similar language for Muslims), it could still be prosecuted
To #2
The contribution of Torah study by the Chareidi community is more than enough contribution to the state of Israel.
#2m you don’t seem to understand that the Torah that is learned by the Yeshiva people is what is keeping Eretz Yisrael on the map. Those guys that are sitting and learning are doing just as difficult and admirable a job as the IDF. WE NEED THEM DESPERATELY! You seem to have bought into the zionist way of looking at Talmidei Chachamim
And there are plenty of Charedim that do work, just by the way.
ahavas_yisroel….let’s concede your point…and still ask how you think the subsidy/conscription situation in Eretz Yisroel looks to the majority of Jrws there who would not concede your point?
I point to the two following definitions:
Leech: a person who clings to another for personal gain, especially without giving anything in return, and usually with the implication or effect of exhausting the other’s resources; parasitic.
Parasite: a person who receives support, advantage, or the like, from another or others without giving any useful or proper return, as one who lives on the hospitality
…on the hospiality of others.
I am confused. I thought that learning Torah was for one’s personal growth and spiritual well being – between oneself and Hashem. Unless you are a teacher or Rabbi and pass this knowledge along to another generation of students, how exactly does studying benefit the state?
one should learn torah without question… however it is not your responsibility nor mine, nor the governments to support you….if you want to learn 24/7 – kol hakavod- but make sure you have someone to support you… you cant become a leech on society… besides… i drive through ramat beit shemesh Bet every single day — there are literally hundreds of ppl walking the streets bored… they on principle wont work but god knows not learning 24-7… there are guys that are learning all day and nite– those are the exceptions not the norm….