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MKs Gafni and Maklev Meet With OECD Heads
By M. Green
During a meeting earlier this week with heads of the OECD, which
Israel joined four months ago, Knesset Finance Committee Chairman MK
Rabbi Moshe Gafni and Deputy Knesset Speaker MK Rabbi Uri Maklev
presented chareidi Jewry's stance and told the representatives from
the organization who wrote the report on Israel's economy about the
way of life in the chareidi community, rejecting recent comparisons
drawn in the media.
Rabbi Gafni, who opened the conversation, said it was important that
international representatives involved in the Israeli economy and in
economic and social policy hear firsthand about the chareidi public
from its official representatives rather than accepting data from
outsiders who are unfamiliar with the chareidi community. Rabbi Gafni
said that although the report lumps the chareidi and the Arab sectors
together, the chareidi sector is very different from any other.
Rabbi Gafni noted the many years the typical yeshiva student spends
studying, sharpening his mind and thinking, which becomes apparent
during the course of his adult life. Rabbi Gafni also noted the fact
that chareidi girls who graduate from chareidi schools excel in all
subject areas, reaching a higher level of academic achievement than
their peers in the mainstream education system. This academic
excellence is shown in tables and surveys released periodically by the
Program for International Student Assessment (PISA).
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