Minister of Agriculture Uri Ariel is one of the cabinet ministers who is actively working to maintain the Shabbos status quo.
However, according to a Channel 2 News report, Ariel’s own ministry compels non-frum Jews to be mechalel Shabbos. According to the report, ministry inspectors are compelled to work on Shabbos from time-to-time.
Each member of this inspection unit must sign an affidavit annually stating if one leads a religious lifestyle or not; including kashrus, traveling on Shabbos and kiyum mitzvos. Only these employees are not compelled to work on Shabbos and Yom Tov from time-to-time.
Ariel responded to the report, stating he was unaware of this and has ordered the ministry’s director-general to look into the situation.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
2 Responses
Ideally, no one should have to work on Shabbos, especially for a government agency, and all practical steps should be taken to avoid this outcome. However, where there are critical needs that must be served, it makes a lot more sense to avoid mandating those assignments to employees who are frum and for whom this would result in very difficult choices. Again, it would seem possible that they could find non-Jews to perform most of these tasks.
And Israel prides itself on being Jewish state. What a joke! With desecration of Shabbos? With pork stores? With filth parades?
Sorry #1, you got your halachos all wrong. From this post and your other posts it seems you’d be better off going back to Bais Yaakov and start learning again. FYI it makes no difference if he’s a secular Jew or a religious Jew. A Jew is a Jew and may not desecrate Shabbos. If it’s pikuach nefesh or “critical needs that must be served,” even the biggest Rabbi has to jump in. Of course it’s best to use non-Jews. But working on railways on Shabbos is 100% not pikuach nefesh.