""Nir Barkat and his advisors are viciously persecuting the Haredi public""

May 7, 2014   

 This morning (Wednesday), the Lithuanian newspaper Yated Ne'eman attacked Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat. The article hurled a series of harsh accusations at the mayor, chief among them: "A serious attempt to influence the character of the Ramot neighborhood in Jerusalem.".

 The background is the intention to house a yeshiva in the Ramot D neighborhood that combines matriculation studies with religious studies. The great men of Israel have come out against yeshivahs of this type, and it is only natural that the Haredi residents of the neighborhood, who constitute the majority in the neighborhood, oppose the move. They mention that a few years ago a school was brought to the neighborhood, which also educates in a method that the rabbis opposed.

 ""The mayor is working to bring a 'Shatanez' institution into the neighborhood and at the expense of the residents' needs," the daily claims. At the same time, a detailed list of allegations against the mayor is also provided - allegations that must be assumed to have been raised at a meeting held by members of the 'Degel Hatorah' council in Jerusalem, at a meeting held at the Degel Hatorah branch in Bnei Brak, and which was also attended by MKs Moshe Gafni, Uri Maklev and Yaakov Asher, alongside Bnei Brak's deputy mayor, Menachem Shapira.

 It can be assumed that the attack this morning on Yated was decided at that meeting, although there is no official confirmation of this.

  Below is a summary of the claims:

1. Ramot residents suffer from a lack of educational buildings, while the mayor provides a building for a 'yeshiva' in Ramot B.
2. Cancellation of a tender for a 'Country' complex in Ramot A, due to fears that an ultra-Orthodox party would win, and its designation for military and police veterans.
3. Lack of expansions for existing and new synagogues in the neighborhood.
4. Haredi educational buildings are in substandard conditions.
5. There is a shortage of playgrounds. There are only a few, dilapidated facilities.

""'The holy name 'Yeshiva' - the spiritual home of the Jewish people for generations, since the days of the Lord and the past, where the young men of Israel sacrifice themselves to study the Torah in its purity, out of complete detachment from worldly studies and the vanities of this world, in order to ascend and be sanctified in the Holy Torah and in a life founded on the path of the Torah - cannot be called such a hybrid institution,' the great men of Israel said firmly," writes 'Yated Ne'eman'.

""Beyond the actual harm of bringing this shatnaz institution into the neighborhood, while attempting to influence the character of the neighborhood, the residents of Ramot suffer from a particularly severe shortage of educational buildings, and this is being done at the expense of the needs of the Haredi residents. Many of the neighborhood's children are staying in unsuitable buildings and have long submitted applications to receive the aforementioned area with the portable buildings, but Mayor Barkat chose to transfer it to an institution outside the neighborhood, while completely ignoring the needs of the residents.".

The highlight of the article are harsh words said by MK Maklev, a resident of the neighborhood: "There are two things here: A. The institution that the mayor is seeking to import into the neighborhood does not have a comfortable, wise spirit, and this in itself is very serious. B. We see the municipality's foot-dragging to the detriment of others, which suddenly has inappropriate agility.".

""Where the municipality is required to provide solutions, when they have already been in many and difficult difficulties for many years - we see the dragging of the feet, the heaviness, the inaction, the lack of solutions and the unwillingness to find solutions. Many institutions are still in poor conditions and do not see light on the horizon. However, where there are things that are not good, there is suddenly a sense of urgency that is out of place and a bad impulse that is harmful. This detail in itself reveals the essence and the decay.

""Beyond that," says MK Rabbi Maklev, "the war that the mayor and his associates are waging on the Ramot neighborhood, a war that is not just harassment, but persecution of the Haredi community in Ramot, one thing after another, despite the mayor's promises and his declarations, he and his advisors are persecuting the Haredi community in Ramot and harassing the basic needs of the Haredi residents of Ramot as if they were the worst of our enemies. This is real persecution. We are used to persecution done with a smile, when they say, 'I am pure.' This persecution by the municipality against the Haredi community in Ramot is done in the same way. To what extent is it possible to persecute a community within the Haredi community and against its basic needs?! When caravans are being evacuated, when there are still great needs for the residents of the neighborhood, to go and bring in another institution from outside, to persecute the residents?!

""We must not forget what has been done in recent weeks, when the Haredi public is finally trying to find a solution for itself to the acute housing crisis, to act against the public by force, to create tremendous pressure on the Ministry of Housing, as they told us, through the mayor and his advisors, to forcefully cancel the tender and bring police and soldiers to live in the neighborhood despite the public having its say. There is a free market here, and despite this, the mayor is working with all his might to force the arrival of a secular group like the police and soldiers in order to restrict the Haredi public. This is persecution and wickedness!""

No response was received from the Jerusalem Municipality regarding the allegations.

  According to the article, opinions are also divided among the Haredi representation in the Jerusalem Municipality.

It is no secret that during the previous term, the then Deputy Mayor, Yossi Deitch, pursued a policy of embracing the mayor, with the goal of achieving as many achievements as possible. He never attacked him, and even when the election campaign opened and he was forced to join the supporters of candidate Moshe Leon, he did so in a 'furry' voice and not with fanfare. He gave the impression that in his heart he continues to believe that in a beautiful way it is possible to achieve achievements even against the secular mayor, Nir Barkat. He cannot say this in his own voice and in clear words, of course.

Contacting some of the representatives to get their reaction to the article yielded an interesting preference: ignoring it. It turns out that not all of the representatives (and without including the representatives of Bnei Torah who are apparently opposed to even the advertising columns in Yated) see the publication of such an article in a positive light.

Some of them even explained, without mentioning their names, that "if we withdraw from the coalition and decide that we have no part or inheritance in it, because the mayor is secular and his tendency is to secularize Jerusalem - then fine. But attacking for the sake of attacking? And will they achieve anything and everything that way?""

The coming days will prove whether such a hostile article achieved its goals, whether the meeting will be moved to another location, and whether the allocations that have not yet been made will be made. From what I know of Barkat, an aggressive approach does not really achieve its goals with him.

We will just emphasize in conclusion, if consultation was held with the great men of Israel before the article was published, then even if they said about the left that it is right and about the right that it is left – holy holy. From a political analysis – it seems that this is an error.

Jerusalem Municipality response:

""This is an educational building that, according to a summary, upon completion of the construction of the new school for 'Beit Yaakov-Tivonat Yaakov', the portable buildings will be vacated in favor of the Rapaport School, in order to allow for the expansion of the 'Ahavat Yisrael' school (middle school - 'Chachmei Lev') that is already operating there. The construction of the 'Beit Yaakov School' building in Ramot A is currently being completed, which provides a response to the needs of the Haredi residents, after many years of continuous lack and staying in a building that does not meet the needs of the students. It should also be noted that in a building round conducted by the municipality about three years ago, a 7-classroom building was already transferred for the needs of the Haredi school 'Tivonat Yaakov'. The municipality is working to find solutions for all populations and sectors, according to the different needs, and not at the expense of one another. The municipality calls on elected officials to assist in the process and not to inflame the sectors with each other.".