The B’Tzalmo organization, a human rights organization guided by Torah principles, sent an urgent appeal to the Attorney General on Tuesday, demanding that Haifa Deputy Mayor Lazar Kaplan be fired due to false and ugly statements he made against the religious and Chareidi communities.

The statements were made a few months ago but were only publicized recently by Makor Rishon, which reported that Kaplan wrote on a Russian language online forum that “90 percent of secular people serve in the army while the religious feast, drink and rape minors under the auspices of G-d.”

Kaplan, a member of the Yisrael Beiteinu party, also stated that although people have the right to “believe” there’s a difference between believers and Chareidi “zombies.” However, he reassured social media users that Yisrael Beiteinu won’t allow the “zealots” to control Israel.

Yisrael Beiteinu condemned Kaplan’s remarks, saying that they were written by him without the knowledge of the party but also explained that his comments, although “obscene,” were taken out of context. Kaplan was apparently responding to an insulting post calling on voters to go back to Russia.

Later on Tuesday, Kaplan responded on Facebook, saying that his statements had been mistranslated. “What was quoted in my name was said in the Russian language in response to an insult. My words were mistranslated and taken out of context to create a bad impression and I apologize for that.”

“I’ve helped many people in the religious community in my position and these statements are far from my worldview. I did not intend to hurt this community or any other and I ask forgiveness from anyone who felt hurt by it.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)