What will Netanyahu DO about this?

Politicians heap insults upon non-Orthodox Jewry

Will Netanyahu seriously take a stand, confront these bigoted leaders and do something of substance against their venomous insults? Moreover, will Netanyahu do what it takes to truly ensure that all Jews feel at home in Israel, and that equality and pluralism extend beyond the southern Kotel plaza?

08/02/2016 17:50

Tags: Benjamin Netanyahu ·  Aryeh Deri ·  Meir Porush ·  Moshe Gafni ·  David Azoulay ·  Yariv Levin ·  Miri Regev ·  Eli Yishai ·  United Torah Judaism ·  Shas ·  Likud ·  Western Wall agreement ·  Reform Judaism

The southern Kotel, designated for the non-Orthodox movements and Women of the Wall

“Reform Jews are a group of clowns who stab the holy Torah.” – MK Gafni, UTJ

“Reform Jews should be sent to the dogs,” and “the Women of the Wall should be put outside the [Jewish] camp with the rest of the garbage.” – Deputy Minister Porush, UTJ

“They will not get any recognition. In Judaism there is only one stream” – Minister Deri, Shas

While Prime Minister Netanyahu’s cabinet approved the Western Wall agreement on Sunday, January 31, 2016, Knesset Members and Ministers representing the ultra-Orthodox Shas and United Torah Judaism (UTJ) parties, the Zionist Orthodox Jewish Home party, and even Likud ministers objected brazenly to the historic compromise. Supporters of the compromise heralded the agreement for granting Government recognition to the non-Orthodox streams in Israel for the first time, but the hate speech spewed forth against non-Orthodox Jewry by members of the very same government, led others to shake their heads and sigh sadly, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”

While observers noted that the ultra-Orthodox vote against the Kotel agreement was nearly a pro forma protest, it did not prevent them from heaping insults and defamation upon non-Orthodox Judaism. However, what we now read in the news is that with mounting opposition among the Ashkenazi rabbinic leaders of Agudat Yisrael, and Shas’ reluctance to be left behind, there may be an organized attempt on their part to sabotage the agreement, which has just been approved by the Government.

Following the decision to upgrade the prayer section south of the traditional Kotel plaza for primary use by the non-Orthodox movements and Women of the Wall, Shas party chairman and Interior Minister Aryeh Deri declared that the Government would not recognize Reform Judaism. “So long as we are in a position of power and influence, we will never give recognition to the Reform,” he stated in an interview with the ultra-Orthodox Kol Chai radio station. “While they are Jews, they will not get any recognition. In Judaism there is only one stream – the religious path of Moses and Israel.” Indeed, following the Cabinet vote, Shas’s Minister of Religious Services David Azoulay moved quickly to distance himself from the agreement’s implementation by declaring that his ministry, ostensibly intended for the religious needs of all Jews, would never provide funding for the pluralistic prayer space. Former Shas party leader Eli Yishai opined, “This is a horrible disaster, and an attack on the Holy of Holies,” adding, “The next thing we’ll see is [Reform Jews] putting tefillin on dogs and calling them up to the Torah.”

“Reform Jews are a group of clowns who stab the holy Torah.” - MK Rabbi Moshe Gafni

In parallel to Shas’ hateful rhetoric and resistance, United Torah Judaism’s MK Moshe Gafni, head of the powerful Knesset Finance Committee, proclaimed that “Reform Jews are a group of clowns who stab the holy Torah.” Gafni, who declared his intention to block funding for the plan via the Knesset Finance Committee, added that “we will never ever recognize this group of clowns, not at the Western Wall, nor anywhere.” In lockstep, UTJ’s Deputy Minister of Education Meir Porush railed against the Government’s decision to expand the non-Orthodox prayer plaza, responding that it is forbidden to give the Reform movement a foothold,” that “Reform Jews should be sent to the dogs,” and that “the Women of the Wall should be put outside the [Jewish] camp with the rest of the garbage.”

The Zionist Orthodox Jewish Home party’s Minister of Agriculture Uri Ariel also opposed the initiative, explaining on Israeli Army radio that it would “give standing to the Reform whose intention is to create conflict and dispute. It’s not appropriate. The Western Wall is a place of unity.” Minister Ariel and the Likud party’s Orthodox Minister of Immigrant Absorption Ze’ev Elkin joined the ultra-Orthodox coalition members in voting against the Western Wall compromise. While the vote passed, opposition to the hard fought agreement extended, as other secular Likud cabinet members, Minister of Culture Miri Regev and Minister of Tourism Yariv Levin, both promised that their respective ministries would never provide funding for the compromise. Throwing prudence and sensitivity to the wind, Tourism Minister Levin went so far as to declare that the Reform community wouldn’t exist in two or three generations; an ironic and regrettable remark for a Minister tasked with increasing Jewish tourism.

Just last summer, Prime Minister Netanyahu was forced to disavow public remarks from the ultra-Orthodox Minister of Religious Services David Azoulay, who claimed that “Reform Jews aren’t Jewish,” and even rebuke his Cabinet member. Following his rebuke, Netanyahu felt the need to publicly promise at the 2015 General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America that he was committed to ensuring that “all Jews – Reform, Conservative and Orthodox – feel at home in Israel.” Unfortunately, as members of Netanyahu’s Cabinet are now mounting their resistance to this historic Western Wall compromise with the non-Orthodox Jewish streams, spurning its approval by the Government, we seem to have come full circle. Once again, members of Netanyahu’s Cabinet are publicly speaking out against Reform Jews, which they use as generically, not having any idea what “Reform Judaism” actually represents, and even threatening to prevent implementation of an agreement that aims to honor and recognize the non-Orthodox community. The Prime Minister has disavowed their rhetoric in a brief, dispassionate public statement:

I reject the recent disparaging and divisive remarks by ministers and members of Knesset about Reform Jews.
Reform and Conservative Jews are part and parcel of the Jewish people and should be treated with respect.
The government approved this week a historic compromise that ensures that the Western Wall will continue to be a source of unity and inspiration for the entire Jewish people.
This is the government’s policy. This is my policy.

- Statement by PM Netanyahu, Feb. 3, 2016

But will Netanyahu seriously take a stand, confront these bigoted leaders and do something of substance against their venomous insults? Moreover, will Netanyahu do what it takes to truly ensure that all Jews feel at home in Israel, and that equality and pluralism extend beyond the southern Kotel plaza, or is his press release meant to serve as a fig leaf, allowing for business as usual? Sadly, the more things change, the more they stay the same.