Monday, September 29, 2008

Religion and State in Israel - September 29, 2008 (Section 1)

Religion and State in Israel

September 29, 2008 (Section 1) (continues in Section 2)

Editor – Joel Katz

Religion and State in Israel is not affiliated with any organization or movement.


Deri may appeal if ruling goes against him

By Avirama Golan,  www.haaretz.com September 29, 2008


Deri, who previously said he would accept a ruling by the Jerusalem District Court banning him from running for mayor, now says he may appeal against such a verdict.

"The differences are purely judicial - whether the moral turpitude is valid for five years, as it was before I entered prison, or seven years, as decided later, while I was serving my sentence," he says. 

Deri says that some countries such as the United States allow prisoners to be elected, let alone vote.

"Let the public decide on the moral issue of whether I am worthy of returning to public life and whether Jerusalem could benefit from a man like me." 


Deri to quit Jerusalem mayoral race if court rejects appeal

By Yair Ettinger, www.haaretz.com September 24, 2008

Former Shas leader Aryeh Deri said Tuesday that if he is legally barred from submitting his candidacy in the Jerusalem mayoral race, he will drop out without seeking to overturn the ruling. 

"I will tell the Torah sages not to appeal," Deri said. "I will do as I am told." 

In an interview with religious radio station Tel Hai Radio, Deri said he would advise Shas rabbis not to ask the Supreme Court to overturn a possible ruling preventing him from running for mayor. 


Court to rule Thurs. on Deri petition

By Dan Izenberg www.haaretz.com September 28, 2008

Deri's lawyer, Agmon, argued that the restrictions imposed by "moral turpitude" constituted punishment above and beyond the jail sentence and fine the court had handed down.

According to the law, Agmon argued, Deri's punishment could not exceed that meted out to him at the end of his trial.

He also argued that at the time Deri was sentenced, the law stated that a person convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude could not run for local authority office for six years.

A law passed after he was convicted could not be applied retroactively, and therefore the law that continued to apply to Deri only barred him from running for six years, said Agmon.

By Election Day, Deri will have been out of jail for six years and four months.


State: Deri can't run for municipality

www.jpost.com September 28, 2008

The state opposes former Shas chairman Aryeh Deri's plan to run in the Jerusalem mayoral race, the state prosecution said in response to an appeal submitted by Deri in the matter.

The purpose of the waiting period, the state said in its response to Deri's appeal, was "to prevent anyone is not worthy of serving in a public office from doing so, for the sake of maintaining the ethical purity of public appointees and the offices they oversee, as well as the public's trust."


The winner of Jerusalem's image campaign

Rabbi Michael Marmur, www.jpost.com Opinion September 28, 2008


What's the big story of the week?

It is of course, the extraordinary decision to allow a cartoon figure to run for Mayor of Jerusalem.

Hundreds of thousands of households have had flyers delivered in which this figure beams out alongside a slogan promising that Jerusalem will love him.

The idea behind the caricature is clear: for Jerusalemites who are not ultra-Orthodox, the only chance of voting for Porush is a sudden rush of imagined nostalgia for Orthodox authenticity - the notion that he stands for traditional values and against the general slide into oblivion.

If they look too closely at what he says and stands for, his chances will plummet. In order to vote for him they will have to believe he is someone else.


Angling for mayor [Beit Shemesh]

By JJ Levine, www.jpost.com September 25, 2008

As the mayoral race in Beit Shemesh heats up ahead of the November 11 election, Shalom Lerner hopes to be transformed from the Anglo favorite into the first choice among the city's electorate.

…But the key demographic in Beit Shemesh is the fast-growing haredi population. To capture the mayoralty, Lerner will have to make significant inroads in the mostly haredi Ramat Beit Shemesh and other haredi areas.

That means tackling the haredi community's own candidates, including Moshe Abutbul of Shas, as well as the current mayor, Daniel Vaknin (Likud), who in past elections has captured a large part of the haredi vote.

Lerner realizes that the growth of haredi communities has created a backlash from veteran residents who see their city being radically transformed.

His hopes of capturing the mayoralty depend on portraying himself as the "man in the middle" - the modern Orthodox representative who will be sensitive to haredi needs while protecting the character of old Beit Shemesh.

Lerner has promised to stand up against religious coercion, which has recently tarnished the city's image, but also supports community-appropriate institutions in haredi areas - from synagogues and schools to pools with separate swimming hours.


Ashkenazi haredim lose majority in Chief Rabbinate membership vote

By Matthew Wagner, www.jpost.com September 23, 2008

The leaders of Ashkenazi haredim suffered a blow to their hegemony in the Chief Rabbinate on Tuesday night while Shas and the national religious camp scored significant victories.

In a vote for 10 new members of the Chief Rabbinate's Rabbinical Council, a large number of religious Zionist and Shas-backed rabbis were voted in.

Rabbis Ya'acov Shapira, head of Jerusalem's Zionist flagship Mercaz Harav Yeshiva, was chosen along with Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, chief rabbi of Safed. Both Eliyahu and Shapira are sons of former chief rabbis and both are considered national religious.

Religious Zionist rabbis who did not make it include Shoham Chief Rabbi David Stav, who is also spokesman for the Hesder Yeshivot and a senior member of Tzohar Rabbis, and Kiryat Shmona Chief Rabbi Tzfania Drori.

But the biggest upset was the election of Ashdod Chief Rabbi Avraham Yosef, the son of Shas mentor Rabbi Ovadia Yosef. The Lithuanian haredi rabbinic leadership was strongly opposed to Yosef's election, so much so that it caused a schism between Shas and the Ashkenazi haredim.

Sephardi, were chosen for five-year terms.

Ashkenazi rabbis elected include Rabbi Yitzhak David Grossman, of Migdal Ha'emek, known as the disco rabbi for his outreach with young disco-goers, Rabbi Ya'acov Ruzah, of the Tel Aviv Burial Society, and Rabbi Yitzhak Ralbag, marriage registrar of Jerusalem.

Sephardi rabbis included Rabbi Yitzhak Peretz of Ra'anana, Rabbi Shimon Elituv of Mateh Binyamin a Chabad Hassid, and Rabbi Ratzon Arrusi of Kiryat Ono.


The Chief Rabbinate Council Elections

Yechiel Spira, www.theyeshivaworld.com September 24, 2008

In essence, Tuesday’s election for the Chief Rabbinate of Israel Rabbinical Council was an election for the Chief Rabbinate’s government.

The election also provides a glimpse at the political realities, the political complexities, and the deal-making that govern the nation’s highest rabbinical body.


Religious Zionists could gain historic foothold in rabbinate

By Yair Ettinger www.jpost.com September 23, 2008

The council oversees huge business interests, mostly related to kashrut supervision, and it is largely controlled by the Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) parties: For years, its composition has been the result of political deals between these two parties, Shas and United Torah Judaism. 

This time, however, several religious Zionist rabbis may well be chosen, due to a dispute between the Ashkenazi UTJ and the Sephardi Shas. 

The Reform Movement, for its part, urged mayors on the electoral body to boycott the vote, due to the rabbinate's "loss of direction" and "the dire need to advance the separation of religious institutions from the government."


Mazuz stands by Druckman conversions

By Dan Izenberg and Matthew Wagner, www.jpost.com September 25, 2008

Attorney General Menachem Mazuz said Wednesday that the High Rabbinical Court's statement suggesting that the conversions preformed by Rabbi Chaim Druckman, former head of the Conversions Court, should be overturned, has no legal or halachic standing.

"As long as a conversion decree has not been rescinded by the appropriate religious authority, no rabbi or marriage registrar has the authority to question its validity," he said.

Attorney Susan Weiss of the Center for Women's Justice, who represented the woman in question, said Wednesday that Mazuz's brief was "good news ahead of the New Year," adding it indicated that the legal system was taking a clear stand in favor of both converts and the common good. 


Rabbinical court shuns 'divorce refuser'

By Neta Sela www.ynetnews.com September 29, 2008

In an unprecedented move, the High Rabbinical Court on Sunday called on the observant public to shun a resident of Jerusalem who has been refusing to grant his wife a divorce for five years.

In ads published in Israel and abroad, a panel of rabbinical court judges calls out to the public to refrain from allowing Briskman to join a congregation or from associating with him for business or pleasure.

The judges also ask that the public refuse him any lodging, with or without pay, including patient visitation rights.


Melchior leads Sternhell solidarity visit

By Matthew Wagner, www.jpost.com September 28, 2008

A group of dovish rabbis and academics visited Prof. Ze'ev Sternhell Sunday at his home to denounce an apparently ideologically motivated pipe bomb attack against the left-wing professor.

On Thursday, which is also the Fast Day of Gedalia, Ne'emanei Torah Ve'Avodah, a moderate religious Zionist organization, plans to hold a public prayer rally outside Sternhell's home in protest against the attack.

Other organizations and educational institutions slated to participate include the Hartman Institute and the Hertzog Institute.


Rabbi: Those who [injure] Prof. Sternhell lack Jewish morals

By Kobi Nahshoni, www.ynetnews.com September 28, 2008

The Tzohar rabbis' organization released a statement Friday, expressing its "deep shock" over the attack against Israel Prize Laureate Prof. Ze'ev Sternhell, who was lightly injured by a pipe bomb detonated at his front door in Jerusalem.

"We view this violent act as a severe attack on the Torah, Jewish law, Israeli democracy and the sensitive fabric of life in the Jewish society," the statement said.

The rabbis' organization added that every rabbi, educator and Jewish leader has the moral duty to denounce physical or verbal violence of any kind, and explain the dangers of unfounded hatred to the Jews' existence in the Land of Israel.


In the name of the mother

By Akiva Eldar, www.haaretz.com September 24, 2008

It doesn't take long for Siham Nashashibi, 62, to allude to his family's distinguished lineage.

"My uncle brought Israel the Nobel Prize in Literature, and my Nobel Prize is that Israel has informed me that I am not a Jerusalemite," he says. 

…The National Insurance Institute has decided he is not a Jew, or even a Jerusalemite, and has revoked his disability pension and health benefits.

…His attorney, Adi Lustigman, says she is still having difficulty understanding how the son of a Jewish woman is not considered a Jew in the eyes of the Israeli authorities.

She says the Israel Religious Action Center, the advocacy arm of Israel's Reform movement, plans to go to court over the issue if it fails to convince the Interior Ministry to waive its objection to recognizing Nashashibi as a Jew.

Yesterday Nashashibi signed a lawsuit against the insurance institute that his attorney plans to file with the regional labor court.


Did Rabbi Raichik have to die?

By Yair Ettinger, www.haaretz.com September 25, 2008

Would it have been possible to save the life of Rabbi Yossi Raichik? 

Raichik, 54, died on Sunday morning following a prolonged illness - and after the opportunity to transplant into his body the lungs of a brain-dead woman had already passed.

Was it possible that the much-loved activist, a father of six, could have gone on living if a respected rabbinic authority had been found who would have approved the procedure? 

…The issue has been debated from the medical-ethical point of view all over the world, and it has been a subject of disagreement within the world of Jewish law too. 


MK Ravitz: [Affirmative] discrimination needed in religious schools

By Neta Sela, www.ynetnews.com September 23, 2008

MK Avraham Ravitz (United Torah Judaism):

“Bonuses need to be given to schools that accept a larger percentage of the opposite ethnicity…I am for this kind of favoritism so that Sephardim will stop this stupid race to study with Ashkenazim.

"Why not the opposite? We need to find a real solution and not run to be admitted to schools that do or don’t want to accept children to school…”

“Shas MKs are successful in sending their children to whichever school they want due to their political status. But they don’t want to send their children to a school that won’t be successful in maintaining the balance between Ashkenazim and Sephardim."

According to Ravitz, children should not be involved in finding this balance. He believes that the real solution is [affirmative] discrimination in favor of the Sephardic institutions.


A New Year reminder of mutual responsibility

Jpost.com Editorial www.jpost.com September 29, 2008

On this Rosh Hashana Eve, which also marks the end of the Sabbatical - shmita - year, the Torah teaches an important lesson about greed and trust, a lesson which resonates particularly loudly today as America, and much of the rest of the world, grapple with a major financial crisis.

…Our society is far from the ideal, but it is our obligation to strive for the sense of mutual responsibility sought by the framers of Jewish law - an obligation underlined by the remarkable coincidence of the ancient enlightened shmita provisions and the current bitter financial crisis.


Fit to serve? Socially conscious kashrut sweeps Jerusalem

By josh www.jerusalemite.net September 24 2008

Bema'aglei Tzedek, a Jerusalem based consort of youths with a mind for social change, have taken it upon themselves to certify restaurants, catering halls, and other food service establishments with a social seal that verifies their commitment to workers' rights and handicapped access.

A full one third of Jerusalem eateries now carry the social seal, including 1868, Bar Kochba, Village Green, New Deli and Emil (a full list of participating restaurants can be found on their website here.)

A number of kibbutzim have also begun to employ the seal, even this place, which hopefully reformed its chicken stomping ways to get the seal.


Jerusalem May Continue Collecting Debts

By Yechiel Spira, www.theyeshivaworld.com September 26, 2008

For those who dreamed the end of shmitah year might bring some relief, the money you owe City Hall will be collected, and done so in accordance to Halacha.

Earlier in the week, the city’s treasurer arrived on the 6th floor of the main building in City Hall, meeting with Rabbi Eliezer Samchiuf, a deputy mayor who happens to holds the city’s finance portfolio.

A pruzbol was signed to ensure there were no halachic problems with the city seeking to collect debts after Rosh Hashanah.

The nusach chosen was the pruzbol in accordance to the Badatz Beit Yosef, under the direction of HaGaon Rav Ovadia Yosef Shlita.


Hundreds of Shomer Shmittah Farmers from North Honored at Event to Mark End of Shmittah Year

By Yechiel Sever www.chareidi.shemayisrael.com September 25, 2008

Hundreds of "giborei koach" farmers from the North were honored at a special event in Afula sponsored by the National Center for Shomrei Shevi'is at Kommemiyus, which is under the aegis of Keren Shevi'is.

HaRav Avrohom Margaliot, the rov of Carmiel, noted this is a gathering of farmers who wholeheartedly devoted themselves to keeping shmittah properly, in accordance with Halacha. 

HaRav Y.M. Zonenfeld, the rov of Rechasim, said 90 years ago his father stood up to the porkei ol and declared, "The day will come when our Holy Land will be filled with shomrei Shevi'is," and now 2,500 farmers have let 350,000 dunams (85,000 acres) of farmland lie fallow.


Religion and State in Israel

September 29, 2008 (Section 1) (continues in Section 2)

Editor – Joel Katz

Religion and State in Israel is not affiliated with any organization or movement.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Religion and State in Israel - September 22, 2008 (Section 1)

Religion and State in Israel

September 22, 2008 (Section 1) (continues in Section 2)

Editor – Joel Katz

Religion and State in Israel is not affiliated with any organization or movement.


Deri to appeal moral turpitude clause

By Aviad Glickman, www.ynetnews.com September 19, 2008


photo by Tierecke ("He's Innocent")

Ynet has learned that former Shas leader, Aryeh Deri, who was found guilty on several charges of bribery in 2000, is expected to file an appeal with the Jerusalem District Court in an attempt to expunge the moral turpitude clause on his criminal record, so as to be able to enter the race for mayor of Jerusalem.

The appeal to the District Court of Jerusalem is expected to generate counter-appeals to the High Court of Justice.

Several groups, including the Movement for Quality government in Israel have announced their plans to appeal to the High Court if the Jerusalem court approves Deri's candidacy.


Give Deri a chance

By Meron Benvenisti, www.haaretz.com Opinion September 22, 2008


Jerusalem is in such desperate straits that even a magician cannot heal its ills.

But Deri might be able to make this desperation easier to live with - even with regard to ultra-Orthodox-secular relations.

This hope is based on his ethnic origin and the community he belongs to, which is devoted to him.


On a mission

By Peggy Cidor, www.jpost.com September 18, 2008


As for Nir Barkat's plans for the education system, one cannot help but note the large number of religious Zionists among his supporters and partners.

At a dialogue held at his house on the subject, Labor-Meimad MK Rabbi Michael Melchior opened the meeting, key remarks were given by Micha Goodman and Rabbi Shai Piron, both religious pedagogues, and a large part of the audience wore crocheted kippot.

…Also on the religious front, Barkat has been very active in pushing for a High Court ruling to appoint a chief rabbi for Jerusalem, making clear that his goal is to bring to the post Zionist rabbis rather than the haredi candidates who have prevailed until now.

Last week, Barkat misstepped when he announced that he had obtained the official support of former Sephardi chief rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, a leader in the religious Zionist community.

Although the declaration was promptly denied by Eliyahu's family, many other prominent figures in the religious Zionist camp do openly support Barkat.


Egged removes political ads on 'haredization' of J'lem

By Etgar Lefkovits, www.jpost.com September 22, 2008

The Egged bus cooperative has removed political advertisements on the sides of its buses sponsored by the far-left Meretz Party against the "haredization" of Jerusalem, officials said at the weekend.

A Meretz city councilman blasted the bus company for "capitulating" to the haredi pressure.

"Egged has long become part of the haredi establishment," said Jerusalem city councilman Pepe Alalo.

"Egged buses cannot be an arena for a brawl between different sectors of the public and therefore we will not lend a hand to negative advertising," an Egged spokeswoman said in a written statement Thursday.

She added that the bus cooperative does not intend to hurt the feelings of its hundreds of thousands of haredi and religious passengers.


Hereditary 'Jerusalemness'

By Neri Livneh, www.haaretz.com September 19, 2008

Voting for Barkat is the only option available to those who would like Jerusalem to regain some of the secular character it once had, when it was still a small town populated by government bureaucrats and professors, authors and poets, and lunatics of all religions. 

But how sad is the situation in which the most distinctive quality for which a candidate can be praised is being the only secular candidate.

…But Jerusalem is much more than the wars between the religious and the secular.

These constitute only a small part of the quality of life and agenda of most people who live in the city, and who truly want what Barkat wants to achieve - plus, if possible, a mayor who does not consider a woman to be a contaminated vessel, and is able to firmly shake the hands of those female constituents whose votes he would like to have.


Court Upholds Rabbi’s Bracha

By Yechiel Spira, www.theyeshivaworld.com September 21, 2008

A court last week ruled the bracha for supporting a candidate was not a violation of the law, upholding Or Yehuda elections.

The petition to the court sought to challenge an election promise for voters who support Rav David Yosef that they would receive a bracha from his father, HaRav Ovadia Yosef Shlita.

Following his victory in the election, the petition was filed with the court.

The court ruled that the petition was not valid, stating it was only filed after the petitioner lost in the election, and it did not prove that the bracha promised was a violation of the law or that it slanted the election in the favor of one candidate.


Candidates Vie For Belzer Rebbe's Endorsement in Beit Shemesh Mayoral Race

www.hamercaz.com September 21, 2008

As municipal elections in the Yerushalayim suburb of Beit Shemesh approach, candidates for the position of mayor struggle to gain the endorsement of leading figures within the city's substantial Charedi population.

The Belzer Rebbe, R' Yissachar Dov Rokeach, is seen as key to a large voting block of Chasidim over whom he wields a great influence.

Last week, the Rebbe met with Shas party Beit Shemesh mayoral candidate Moshe Abutbul, and gave him a Bracha.

Shas party chairman Eli Yishai and former Knesset member Israel Eichler were also present at the meeting.


Shas Working Around-the-Clock Ahead of Chief Rabbinical Council Election

By Yechiel Spira, www.theyeshivaworld.com September 21, 2008


Shas officials are literally working around-the-clock ahead of this week’s election for members of the Chief Rabbinical Council of the Chief Rabbinate.

It appears according to most that the five Shas-affiliated rabbonim will indeed obtain slots on the nation’s highest rabbinical council.

Shas’ biggest effort appears to ensure the election of Cholon Chief Rabbi Avraham Yosef Shlita, a son of Rav Ovadia Yosef Shlita.

What is contributing to Shas’ concerns is Rav Elyashiv’s Shlita unwillingness to support rav Avraham’s candidacy, apparently as a result of his support for heter mechira during shmitah, a position held by his father, HaRav Ovadia Shlita, head of the Shas Council of Torah Sages.


Mazuz: No grounds to file charges against Metzger

By Aviad Glickman, www.ynetnews.com September 22, 2008


Attorney Raz Nezri, senior aide to Attorney General Menachem Mazuz, said Monday that there were no grounds to pursue a criminal case against Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Yona Metzger, citing lack of evidence.

Nezri's statement came in response to a demand made by the Ometz Association, which champions proper public administration.

Mazuz did, however, order his office to put together a team, headed by the Prime Minister's Office legal counsel and including representatives from the Justice Ministry and the Chief Rabbinate, to probe the matter further and stipulate new and clear guidelines as to the funding of the chief rabbi's trips by private groups.

Nezri chose to end his letter to Ometz by saying that "the decision not to go ahead with a criminal case must not be misunderstood as a validation of any of the alleged acts."


The lie of 'equality for Israel's children'

By Shahar Ilan, www.haaretz.com Opinion September 17, 2008

In the proposal, which might be called Nahari Law II, or the upgraded Nahari Law, Shas demands that budgets and buildings for the ultra-Orthodox education systems be equal to those for the state education systems. 

Equal budgets for state education and the ultra-Orthodox systems is in fact crude and unjustified discrimination against the children in the state education system.

Even now the budgets are nearly equal. The prime minister must not lend a hand to Nahari Law II, which will make the situation worse. State education must be preserved, not damaged further.


Rabbi Amar calls for end to discrimination against Ethiopians

By Neta Sela, www.ynetnews.com September 18, 2008


Israel's Chief Sephardic Rabbi Shlomo Amar has issued a letter asking heads of religious schools not to discriminate children of Ethiopian descent, who wish to apply to their respective educational institutions.

In his statement, Rabbi Amar noted that Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, Shas' spiritual leader, approved his plea. The letter was also posted on Shas' website.


Religious Racism in Israeli Schools

By Elana Sztokman, www.kolech.org.il/blog September 21, 2008

The writer blogs at http://blog.elanasztokman.com/

There are moments when I find myself truly ashamed to be part of Israeli society.

I had a moment like that recently as I stood outside the Supreme Court with women from “Achoti”, an organization of Sephardic feminist women, waiting for a ruling on the religious girls’ school in Elad where racism is so entrenched that parents will do all it takes to keep antiquated Jim-Crow-like separations in place. 


Rabbis call for revival of traditional schooling

By Kobi Nahshoni, www.ynetnews.comSeptember 19, 2008

“Ethnic segregation is a tragedy, a bone of contention; the system isolating itself is an embarrassment,” Rabbi Dr. Benny Lau said Wednesday as he addressed growing amount of private religious schools and the weakening of state-religious education.

He called upon parents and educators to act responsibly towards weak students and strengthen state-religious education.

“The state-religious system created this divisive network since it did not accept the diversity of strengthening the orthodoxy and that shattered its growth.”


Ministry disqualifies exam after Haredi school bars proctor for 'immodest attire'

By Or Kashti, www.haaretz.com September 22, 2008

The Education Ministry has disqualified the matriculation exam in Jewish philosophy administered at an ultra-Orthodox girls' school in Jerusalem this past summer, after the institution refused to allow a ministry proctor into the classroom because it said she was not properly attired.

The ministry said the school did not have the authority to reject a proctor, and therefore disqualified the results of all 243 exams taken that day. 

…The school said that in conversations with the Education Ministry after the incident, it was agreed that from now on, male proctors rather than women would be sent. 


For haredi papers, Livni is faceless

By Matthew Wagner, www.jpost.com September 22, 2008

If it relies solely on its newspapers for information, the haredi public will not even know what the next prime minister looks like, Arye Frankel, a veteran haredi ad man at the Gal BSD agency, said Sunday.

"You simply will not see a picture of Tzipi Livni in the haredi newspapers," said Frankel. "And in some cases you will not even see her first name," he added.

A senior editor at Hamodia, the oldest haredi daily, controlled by the Ger Hassidic sect, said that in his paper the name Tzipi would not be mentioned.

…"Hamodia is the most conservative," said Kroizer. "But in other papers you will find 'Tzipi.' But no haredi paper will publish Livni's picture. Graphic artists will blur the faces of women that do make their way into pictures that the papers want to use.

They will also blur pictures of television sets or other items deemed improper to be seen by the wider haredi public.

"Photoshop works overtime in a haredi newspaper," he explained.


Rabbis claim Bezeq delaying kosher Internet

By Gad Perez, www.globes.co.il September 18, 2008

Bezeq has been dragging its heels in the cooperation on kosher Internet access between it and the rabbinical committee on communications, say sources close to the committee.

The two sides had agreed on the requirements and conditions for cooperation in the provision of "obscenity-free" Internet services to users in the haredi (ultra-orthodox) sector, but virtually no progress has been made in recent months, despite the media attention and the headlines announcing the launch of commercial services last year.

The sources say that Bezeq fears it could lose revenue because of the fact that haredi customers can obtain kosher Internet and VoIP-based telephony services from rival providers.


MK Gafni Thwarts Attempt to Open Food Bar at Sde Dov

By Yechiel Sever, www.chareidi.shemayisrael.com September 18, 2008

Another attempt by the board of Tel Aviv's Dov Airfield to open its food bar on Shabbos and Jewish holidays has failed.

In a letter to the operator of the food bar the airport director asked about his willingness to operate the food bar on Shabbos and holidays, saying if he receives a negative response the board would have to look into "alternative arrangements to provide service for passengers."

MK Rabbi Moshe Gafni contacted Ovadia Eli, chairman of the Israel Airports Authority, who issued unambiguous instructions not to operate the food bar on Shabbos and chagim.


Religion and State in Israel

September 22, 2008 (Section 1) (continues in Section 2)

Editor – Joel Katz

Religion and State in Israel is not affiliated with any organization or movement.