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The "Alei Shalehet" crematorium, after it was burned down. (Itzik Ben-Malki)
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Last update - 10:45 24/08/2007
Shas Minister advancing bill to outlaw cremation in Israel
By Roni Singer-Heruti and Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz Correspondents

Shas Minister Izhak Cohen, chairman of the cabinet committee for burial affairs, called an urgent committee meeting Thursday in order to discuss a bill proposed by Shas Chairman and Minister of Industry, Trade and Employment Eli Yishai that would make cremation illegal.

Cohen said the bill "would put an end to those who are implementing the final solution once again. Soon the Israeli people will happily sprinkle the ideological ashes of these devils outside the territorial waters of Israel."

Cohen's remark came a day after the Alei Shalechet crematorium, located on Moshav Hibat Tzion in the Sharon region, sustained major damage in a fire that police and firefighters believe was caused by arson.

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According to the bill, anyone found guilty of cremating bodies would be subject to a maximum of one year in prison and a fine of up to NIS 30,000.

Meretz Chair MK Yossi Beilin said in response to Cohen's remarks that "Shas' leadership is pushing Israel to a dark age in which civilians won't even be able to decide what will happen to them after they die." Beilin added that he personally has instructed family members to cremate him after his death.

Meretz MK Avshalom Vilan called Shas' proposal "an Iranian-style attempt. We won't have Ayatollah rule here."

Vilan said he would continue to fight for legislation obligating the National Insurance to finance cremation as well as burial. Vilan's bill has already been approved by the Ministerial Committee on Legislation, meaning that it has the support of the coalition, but Shas' stance dealt a blow to its chances of being passed.

"We must give every individual the right to determine how they want to leave this world," said Vilan.

Since its establishment two years ago, the Alei Shalechet crematorium has faced strong opposition, especially from ultra-Orthodox groups that are opposed to cremation.

Alon Nativ, a partner in Alei Shalechet, arrived soon after the fire broke out. He told Haaretz that he had filed a complaint the police on Monday saying that Haredim were planning a demonstration at the site, whose location was recently discovered by the ZAKA rescue and recovery service.

The location was publicized Wednesday in Kol Ha'ir, an ultra-Orthodox paper published in Bnei Brak.

Nativ said police did not respond quickly to his numerous complaints over the past two years. He also said he had received several threats to his life.

ZAKA rescue and recovery service head Yehuda Meshi Zahav denied any connection to the fire. "We have been struggling with them for a long time," he said. "They didn't have a license from the Health Ministry to operate, but the system did nothing despite the fact that the law permits burial only. When we discovered the site, Hibat Tzion residents told us that they had noticed a bad smell recently."

"I assume that after the release [of the photographs], there were people that couldn't ignore the desecration of the dead, and I applaud them," Meshi Zahav continued. "We saw the desecration there. The structure is located between two chicken coops. There were sheets soaked in blood and the ashes thrown in the garbage bin. The place was destined to burn, and it was burned."

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  1.   Good??? 23:00  |  Russ 22/08/07
  2.   Good. No place for crematoria in Israel 23:02  |  Avraham 22/08/07
  3.   Good??? 23:04  |  Russ 22/08/07
  4.   Not good 23:12  |  Boaz 22/08/07
  5.   Ho Lee Fok of Hong Kong, China...Hells Angels of Religion? 23:14  |  Akiva Patysh 22/08/07
  6.   Taliban ZAKA 23:27  |  Concerned 22/08/07
  7.   Those who condone vigilante barbarism 23:38  |  Jake 22/08/07
  8.   To rich of london 23:40  |  Akiva Patysh 22/08/07
  9.   A Question 23:50  |  Alicia 22/08/07
  10.   Well done returning the JEWISH state to its ROOTS and not to ASHE 23:57  |  Dr Levy 22/08/07
  11.   Response to #7 00:07  |  Russ 23/08/07
  12.   Sue the newspaper - and put the arsonists in prison 00:08  |  b`galil 23/08/07
  13.   #4 rich 00:08  |  Jimmy 23/08/07
  14.   #4 rich 00:08  |  Jimmy 23/08/07
  15.   If it would be Muslims it would be OK., but religious Jews=nazi 00:12  |  Tom 23/08/07
  16.   See what a geshrei they`d let out if "holy" places were burnt 00:12  |  Mirsky_Eytan 23/08/07
  17.   Boaz # 7 00:49  |  Philippe 23/08/07
  18.   Corpse worship 00:52  |  Cato 23/08/07
  19.   Rabi Goldie Milgram # 16 00:53  |  Philippe 23/08/07
  20.   In the name of the Lord we destroy and burn 00:59  |  Robin 23/08/07
  21.   The Hebrew Hammer 01:03  |  German Hammer 23/08/07
  22.   To The Hebrew Hammer 01:26  |  Akiva Patysh 23/08/07
  23.   Hello Israel, we finally welcome you to the Middle East... 01:41  |  Galit 23/08/07
  24.   Akiva Patish 01:44  |  The Hebrew Hammer 23/08/07
  25.   Question for Rabbi Goldie 01:46  |  Confused 23/08/07
  26.   Now even more know about option of Crematorium 01:49  |  Adi 23/08/07
  27.   Orthodox Jews Are Not Jews! 02:28  |  Brad 23/08/07
  28.   Adi 02:39  |  rivka 23/08/07
  29.   Israel a democracy?? 02:42  |  from Canada 23/08/07
  30.   Cremation 03:10  |  Jack 23/08/07
  31.   Mashiach 05:09  |  Robert 23/08/07
  32.   The crematorium is bad, but commiting arson is worse. 05:32  |  Yered Shmuel 23/08/07
  33.   Sounds VERY familiar #29 05:53  |  Jewish CANADIAN 23/08/07
  34.   To # 40 06:27  |  ali 23/08/07
  35.   Shame 06:52  |  Gordon 23/08/07
  36.   Crematorium burned down 06:53  |  Douglas Kazdoy 23/08/07
  37.   Democracy means freedom of choice 06:53  |  L A 23/08/07
  38.   To all the self-righteous Jews posting here 07:40  |  Ben 23/08/07
  39.   #DR LEVY AND DEMOCRACY ARE ENEMIES 08:07  |  PAUL HARRIS 23/08/07
  40.   Kol HaKavod! 08:23  |  Miriam 23/08/07
  41.   To Ben from Tel Aviv 08:33  |  f 23/08/07
  42.   Jewish TERRORISM !!!!! 09:07  |  keith 23/08/07
  43.   #40 ben forgot that... :-) 09:09  |  mordechai 23/08/07
  44.   To "f" (somewhere in Europe) 09:36  |  MuslimIsraeliArab 23/08/07
  45.   See how meetings are broken 09:44  |  Observer 23/08/07
  46.   Burning bodies 10:13  |  Henry 23/08/07
  47.   Hold your horses 11:07  |  RightClick 23/08/07
  48.   Robert and Dr.Levy 11:15  |  Alicia 23/08/07
  49.   It shows that Israel is not a democratic and secular state 12:21  |  Mark B. 23/08/07
  50.   Illegal Underground Crematorium Burns 12:25  |  Efox 23/08/07
  51.   thank you MuslimIsraeliArab 12:35  |  f 23/08/07
  52.   re: f 12:43  |  Efox 23/08/07
  53.   To "f" (somewhere in Europe) 12:51  |  MuslimIsraeliArab 23/08/07
  54.   Jumping to conclusions rather quickly 12:51  |  Susan 23/08/07
  55.   To Robert and Dr Levi 13:14  |  Joshua 23/08/07
  56.   Israel worse than Iran 13:41  |  Tim 23/08/07
  57.   Burning Hatred 13:48  |  Ira Piltz 23/08/07
  58.   to somewhere in Europe 14:55  |  the pope 23/08/07
  59.   Great news !! 15:00  |  Jew 23/08/07
  60.   I guess we also need to outlaw trains 16:10  |  Israeli 23/08/07
  61.   Boaz not good 16:42  |  leon 23/08/07
  62.   L A - Its a law, don`t question it.... 16:45  |  CV 23/08/07
  63.   Tim - Then stop writing in a Israeli paper... 16:46  |  x 23/08/07
  64.   Illegal crematoria? 17:19  |  Eli 23/08/07
  65.   A free country? A democracy? 18:10  |  Polybios 23/08/07
  66.   SHAS MINISTER ADVANCING BILL TO OUTLAW CREMATION IN ISRAEL 18:13  |  Marlene 23/08/07
  67.   At 2x1 m each, a country full of graves will soon run out of land 18:41  |  Danny 23/08/07
  68.   Quite funny really 18:50  |  Vernon Marriott 23/08/07
  69.   Israel or Iran? 19:06  |  Yossi 23/08/07
  70.   RADICAL RELIGiOUS NUTS 19:06  |  Johnny #5 23/08/07
  71.   THROW MY BODY TO THE PIGS 19:08  |  SM 23/08/07
  72.   trading individual rights for imaginary colective benefit 19:18  |  Peter 23/08/07
  73.   Burial customs change (part 1) 19:21  |  Yonatan 23/08/07
  74.   Burial customs change (part 2) 19:29  |  Yonatan 23/08/07
  75.   If Shas succeeds in outlawing cremation 19:36  |  Yonatan 23/08/07
  76.   Fight fire with fire 19:43  |  W 23/08/07
  77.   Let,s get religion out of politics and start with Shas 20:00  |  Sammy 23/08/07
  78.   fanatics 20:17  |  Charles 23/08/07
  79.   How Father Abraham was buried 20:35  |  Yonatan 23/08/07
  80.   Ridiculous 20:52  |  Chris Linthwaite 23/08/07
  81.   Dear Shas Minister,