The Shas party is required to adhere to civil law, just like the rest of us

Shas CEO cannot simultaneously be CEO of state-funded educational network

Responding to Hiddush’s demand – Israel’s Attorney General instructs Shas that the party’s CEO, Haim Biton, cannot simultaneously direct the State-funded vast educational network it founded

11/06/2020 11:42

Tags: Shas ·  Shas party

Shas party campaign poster, source: Wikipedia

The Office of the Attorney General has issued legal instructions to the Shas party that Haim Biton cannot continue serving as both the CEO of the party and as the CEO of the state-funded Haredi education system (called B’nei Yosef - MaAyan HaHinuch HaTorani, with over 50,000 students in some 250 institutions). These instructions were issued in response to a demand by Hiddush – for Religious Freedom and Equality, which challenged the legality of his dual role.

Hiddush will monitor the implementation of this decision and make sure that no political party is allowed to run a large education network funded by the state, while harnessing it to promote its political interests and electoral successes, should the Attorney General’s Office does not do so.

It is very unfortunate that although we have been appealing to the authorities for years, it was only after Hiddush informed them yesterday that we would not wait any longer and would appeal to the Supreme Court, that the authorities finally made it clear to the Shas party and its CEO that they too must obey the law, and not only their "Council of Sages", which is not known for respecting the civil law of the State of Israel.

This contempt for the law and the reality of the ongoing conflict of interest provides further context to the demands of the two ultra-Orthodox parties in their Coalition negotiations to block the intervention of the Supreme Court in matters of religion and state, as well as to limit its authority and independence. Hiddush will continue to actively advocate in the legal and public arenas, in Israel and among Diaspora Jewry, to protect the rule of law and to prevent the grave consequences of the unholy alliance between religion and politics in Israel.

Background

Hiddush has been working for several years to ensure a real separation between Israel’s two ultra-Orthodox parties and their respective large, State-funded educational networks. This is in order to stop the abuse of the educational networks’ resources (which, of course, come from the Ministry of Education) to promote political agendas and interests. It runs contrary to the Party Financing Law, and it enables them to circumvent their legal obligation to teach their students the full core curricular program. Israeli law and the guidelines issued by the Director General of the Ministry of Education require complete separation of the political and educational realms, and generally prohibit school educational staff from engaging in political campaigns.

One of the most severe occurrences of this phenomenon was Rabbi Chaim Biton's simultaneous roles as CEO of Shas’s State-funded religious education system and as CEO of the Shas party itself, ignoring the obvious conflict of interest and with utter disregard for the legal prohibitions.

One of the most severe occurrences of this phenomenon was Rabbi Chaim Biton's simultaneous roles as CEO of Shas’s State-funded religious education system and as CEO of the Shas party itself, ignoring the obvious conflict of interest and with utter disregard for the legal prohibitions. When it comes to leading the organizational ranks at both the party and the education network it founded, this sends a clear message to the students' parents regarding whom they have to thank, urges them to support and strengthen the Shas party at the polls, and ensures the network's ability to pump the state’s coffers for the funding needed for its maintenance.

For example, in the past, the network required teachers to purchase subscriptions to the Shas party newspaper. Thus, millions flowed into the party’s coffers, against the law, and ensured that that the thousands of school network employees would be on the receiving end of the party’s information pipeline. The party also attempted to enlist the school network’s teaching corps in its electioneering, a phenomenon that was only halted following previous legal action by Hiddush.

Hiddush has been pursuing this matter for a long time, appealing to the Ministry of Education, but to no avail. In January 2019 we referred the matter to the Attorney General, whose deputy, Raz Nizri - after reviewing our legal claims - held a hearing for Rabbi Biton. Today, after about a year and a half (one day after Hiddush issued a final reminder, stating that we will not wait any longer before turning to Court if no decision were made immediately) – the Attorney General’s Office announced that it accepts our claims and prohibited Rabbi Biton from serving in parallel in both positions.

However, the letter instructs that Rabbi Biton should retire "as soon as possible" from one of the two positions. Hopefully, no attempt will be made to take advantage of the vague wording of the decision. If that happens, and if the authorities don’t enforce their instruction – Hiddush will act determinatedly to stop the blatant violation with a legal petition.