Dei'ah veDibur - Information & Insight
  

A Window into the Chareidi World

22 Sivan 5761 - June 13, 2001 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
NEWS

OPINION
& COMMENT

HOME
& FAMILY

IN-DEPTH
FEATURES

VAAD HORABBONIM HAOLAMI LEINYONEI GIYUR

TOPICS IN THE NEWS

HOMEPAGE

 

Produced and housed by
Shema Yisrael Torah Network
Shema Yisrael Torah Network

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NEWS
Lapid "Apologizes" for Incendiary Remarks Against Chareidim
by Yated Ne'eman Staff

On 14 Sivan, chairman of Shinui MK Tommy Lapid "apologized" for his remarks against the Chevra Kadisha of Tel Aviv comparing them to terrorists of the Islamic Jihad following the horrendous terrorist attack in Tel Aviv on Shabbos night parshas Nosso.

In a letter to Attorney General Eliakim Rubinstein, Lapid writes that his own remarks were out of place and were made under pressure, after he had received information that the Chevra Kadisha supposedly refused to bury some of the victims in the terrorist attack in the Dolphinarium because their status as Jews is doubtful.

Attorney General Eliakim Rubinstein rejected a demand by chairman of the Knesset Interior Affairs Committee, MK Rabbi Moshe Gafni, that he order Israel Police to launch an investigation against Tommy Lapid. "It is legally unfeasible to criminally prosecute the chairman of Shinui, Tomy Lapid, for the inciting, defamatory remarks he made in his attack against the chareidi sector and the Chevra Kadisha this past Shabbos to the effect that they supposedly refused to bury the `questionable Jews' among the victims of the Dolphinarium disaster. The principal of freedom of speech prevails in Israel."

The Attorney General added, "The remarks Lapid is quoted as making are indeed exasperating, and I am very sorry that they were said. I have a deep regard for the efforts of chareidi groups at massive disasters, and their behavior is a kiddush Hashem. I wonder if anyone else besides them would be willing to do such work."

He said that due to the publicity in the media, he was approached at the cabinet meeting on Shabbos by Justice Minister Shetreet, as well as by Deputy Minister Stern and Government Secretary Gideon Saar on that issue. He told them that he didn't believe that the charges were true, since there are special arrangements for such cases. He added that he told them he didn't believe that the Chevra Kadisha had said anything at all on Shabbos. Rubinstein wrote Gafni that he had suggested that the Justice Minister and others wait until motzei Shabbos and then approach the chief rabbis. He also assured them that the matter would be taken care of in a dignified manner.

Rubinstein added, "I have deep respect for the work of the chareidi groups during large-scale disasters. They sanctify sheim Shomayim through their deeds, and I doubt if anyone beside them would be willing to do such work."

Regarding the essence of the complaint, however, Rubinstein explains: "Lapid's remarks can only be protested on the public plane. I lack the tools to take criminal action on such an issue."

Lapid's apology also comes in the wake of extensive public pressure, including that of his fellow party members. MK Yossi Paritzki of Shinui was also troubled by Lapid's condemnation of the Chevra Kadisha and said that had he himself made them, he wouldn't be ashamed to retract them. Paritzki's remarks were made at a deliberation in the Knesset on the issue. MK Rabbi Moshe Gafni also filed a complaint against Lapid with the Knesset Ethics Committee headed by Colette Avital.

On Shabbos and motzei Shabbos parshas Nosso, a provocative defamation campaign was waged against the Chevra Kadisha of Tel Aviv and the entire chareidi sector. The Chevra Kadisha was accused of being unwilling to bury terrorist attack victims whose Jewishness was in doubt. Tomy Lapid went so far as to say that the chareidim are in cohorts with the Hamas.

In the end it became clear that all these charges were false, and that since no one had even asked the Chevra Kadisha to bury the "questionable Jews" at that time, it surely couldn't have refused to do so and didn't express any opinion whatsoever on the issue because its offices were closed on Shabbos.

After Shabbos, the Chevra Kadisha stated that there is a special plot in the cemetery in Tel Aviv for such cases and the non-Jewish victims of the terrorist attack could be buried there with dignity.

In a discussion with Yated Ne'eman prior to Lapid's "apology," Rabbi Gafni said that Lapid doesn't stop inciting and defaming the chareidi sector, because that is his way: the way of a fool. "The public at large will relate to Lapid's future remakes and besmirching as groundless, as they do now," Rabbi Gafni said.

Lapid's letter of apology was penned only after extensive public pressure had been leveled against him. Secularists also criticized him, saying, "He lacks intellectual integrity. He must apologize for his offensive remarks, which were based on false information."

In his appeal to the Attorney General, Rabbi Gafni had written: "In the wake of the terrible attack and massacre that occurred on Shabbos night in Tel Aviv, the media publicized remarks of Tomy Lapid comparing the chareidim to the Hamas: `The Hamas doesn't let the Russian immigrants live, and the chareidim don't let them die.'

"It is superfluous to point out that these remarks constitute grave incitement against a large sector in Israel, which is enraged yet was helpless to counteract them when they were made. Chareidim arrived at the scene on Friday night immediately after the attack, with Hatzoloh squads and ambulances, and worked alongside all the other rescue squads with every last vestige of their strength, treating the wounded and safeguarding the respect of the deceased.

"I am trying to contain my anger, for you know halocho and are aware of the supreme value of helping with mesiras nefesh at such times. Despite all this, we had to hear ourselves being compared to human beasts in the form of the Hamas, in the words of Tomy Lapid, while the media took advantage of our inability to answer his provocative statements that there was no place to bury some of the victims: remarks that were proven erroneous just as soon as Shabbos was over," Gafni continued.

"The members of the Hatzoloh organization, who are chareidim, arrived on the site of the attack which occurred on Shabbos night the moment they were summoned, and made supreme efforts to administer to the injured and to treat the fatal casualties with cherdas kodesh. Jewish halocho determines that mesiras nefesh and the sanctity of life are supreme values, and Lapid's remarks turned out to be utterly false.

"I therefore demand that you issue orders to launch an investigation against Tomy Lapid for his provocative, hateful remarks," concluded Gafni.

Lapid indeed responded and "apologized" to the chareidi community via his letter to the Attorney General. However, in the same letter, Lapid continued to attack the religious establishment, demanding that the Jews and non-Jews killed in the terrorist attack be buried in the same burial plot. "The Chevra Kadisha should be censured for not wanting the youngsters in their deaths, just as the terrorist organizations do not want them during their lives," writes Lapid, continuing to incite in his letter of "apology."

Although the media was notified after Shabbos that the information was incorrect, reporter Avi Bettleheim gave Tomy Lapid a platform on Channel Two Israel radio, where he compared the Chevra Kadisha to the Hamas.

The Manof organization has filed a complaint with the Court of Ethics of the Journalists Council to dismiss Bettleheim for incitement, report of false information and for granting a forum to incitement.

Manof also asked the Journalists Council to act against media personnel who spread illogical contention and hatred without first examining the issues.

At the opening of the meeting of the Interior Affairs Committee on Monday following the incident, Rabbi Gafni sharply censured Lapid's remarks, and said: "Comparing the chareidim to the Hamas enraged me. Is there no limit to the depths of corruption a person can reach?" He later also censured Lapid in the Knesset.

An unpleasant incident took place in the Knesset Plenum the following Monday, when Health Minister Nissim Dahan sharply censured Knesset members who incited against the chareidi sector and attacked the Chevra Kadisha without any justification. Dahan called them "criminals."

In response, Knesset chairman Avraham Burg closed Dahan's microphone and threatened to remove him from the podium. Dahan, of course, sternly opposed Burg's behavior and insisted that he has a right to say what he thinks. A commotion erupted in the plenum. MK Yitzchak Gagula of Shas was forcibly removed from the auditorium and the chairman was forced to call a recess until order was restored.

 

All material on this site is copyrighted and its use is restricted.
Click here for conditions of use.