The secretary general of Degel HaTorah, Rabbi Moshe Gafni,
has written to Prime Minster Binyamin Netanyahu, detailing at
length the current incitement campaigns being waged against
the religious and Torah-observant communities, by
politicians, and, primarily, by the judicial system.
At the outset Rabbi Gafni relates to the odious verbal
attacks made by Beer Sheva Magistrate Oded Alyagon "who once
again attacked various sectors of the population with a
vulgar comparison of these groups to lice, parasites, etc.
This follows a previous incident in which this same judge
unleashed his tongue against various sectors of Israeli
society."
Rabbi Gafni detailed how the "demands of many members of the
Knesset Law Committee, as well as those of the public at
large, that Alyagon be dismissed have met up with the
impenetrable walls of the Justice Minister and the President
of the Supreme Court."
"The current incitement campaign, conducted by opposition
leader MK Ehud Barak, Centrist party leader Roni Milo, and
led by what I consider the criminal anti-religious Am Chofshi
organization has resulted in violence against the religious
and chareidi communities," Rabbi Gafni said.
"Nonetheless, the State Prosecution reply to a complaint I
filed against them was: 'Israel is a democratic country which
bears the banner of freedom of speech. Therefore the State
Prosecution follows a policy of restraint in all that
pertains to bringing to court those accused of offenses which
erode this freedom.'"
"During recent years, all of the various courts and chiefly
the Supreme Court, have interfered in an intolerable manner,
in issues which are not judicial, but are directly related to
matters of conscience, ideology, Judaism, and the question of
the state and religion, even though the Supreme Court has
clearly one-sided views on the issues of conversion, Shabbos,
yeshiva students, religious councils, and legitimizing all
the abominations which are diametrically opposed to the
Torah viewpoint."
"The religious and chareidi communities in Israel feel an
atmosphere of strangulation and powerlessness in the face of
this dictatorial, un-elected system, whose positions are
known in advance. These communities feel that the delicate
balance which prevailed for fifty years is collapsing, and
that the State of Israel, which is supposed to be a Jewish
and democratic state, is becoming undemocratic, and mainly,
un-Jewish, something which, absurdly, is contrary to the
wishes of the majority of the Jewish residents of the
country."
Rabbi Gafni noted that there is no doubt that the basic
stances of those who oppose the position of the chareidi
community, stem, in their essence, from the age-old hatred of
"the ignorant for the learned."
"However, the prime force in the organizing of an orderly,
pre-arranged incitement campaign, backed by ther media and
the judiciary, stems from our support of your candidacy for
prime minster, and especially from our clear cut position,
which tipped the scales in your favor."
"In addition to not honoring your agreement with UTJ, you
haven't done a thing to prevent the media and judicial
autocracy which is interested in getting rid of you, contrary
to the wishes of the majority of the people and which batters
the religious and chareidi public mercilessly, as if hinting
to us if you don't interfere in determining who will be prime
minister, we'll leave you alone. "Not only has nothing been
done, but the opposite is true, members of your government
and many members of your party led by the Minister of Justice
give full backing on these issues to the courts, and they
seek to introduce basic laws, with the purpose of augmenting
the power of the Supreme Court, whose positions as we have
said, on Jewish issues are well known."
In conclusion Rabbi Gafni wrote "It is very important to
ascertain your position on this crucial issue," especially
now that we must present true information to the gedolei
haTorah who instruct us how to conduct ourselves at all
times, and especially before we go to the polls."
