Cartoon spat prompts Shas to quit Knesset religious lobby - Haaretz

Subscribe to Print Edition

Tue., November 13, 2007 Kislev 3, 5768

Israel Time: 03:51 (EST+7)

web haaretz.com

Back to Homepage

Print Edition

Diplomacy

Defense

Arts & Leisure

Real Estate

Jewish World

National

Advertising

Magazine

Week's End

Business

Opinion

Rosner's Domain

Anglo File

Books

Travel



		Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef. (Eyal Warshavsky)

del.icio.us

Digg It! new

Last update - 07:01 16/10/2007

Cartoon spat prompts Shas to quit Knesset religious lobby

By Yair Ettinger, Haaretz Correspondent

tags: United Torah Judaism, cartoon

A new crisis has erupted between the Ashkenazi and Sephardi ultra-Orthodox over the usual bones of contention: racism, money, and politics. The quarrel resulted Monday in Shas announcing its resignation from the religious lobby in the Knesset.

The current round began when Shas' spiritual leader, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, saw a cartoon in Yeted Ne'eman, the flagship journal of Degel HaTorah, the "Lithuanian wing" of the Ashkenazi Haredim.

The cartoon showed a man dressed in shorts and sandals wearing a skullcap and trimmed black beard, representing a Shas follower, in cahoots with a secular person representing Kadima. Wearing a big grin, the two were dumping a rock labeled "2008 cuts" on the head of a Haredi man.

	Advertisement

The symbols appear obvious, lacking sophistication, and according to Shas, loaded with anti-Semitism and racism of the sort Ashkenazi ultra-Orthodox feel about Sephardi Haredim. MK Yakov Margi, chairman of the Shas faction in the Knesset, said Ovadia Yosef was deeply offended.

"He saw the caricature and protested strongly, telling us to respond very strongly," Margi said. The response came Monday, with Shas announcing its resignation from the religious lobby in the Knesset, which is headed by United Torah Judaism.

"Degel HaTorah and its journal Yeted Ne'eman have set out as policy to continue racism and hatred of Sephardim," the faction said in a statement. "For the first time an anti-Semitic cartoon that would not have shamed any anti-Semitic paper in the world was published. The Degel HaTorah leadership must rid itself from its hatred for Sephardim, from its patronizing attitude for the Sephardi community, which was its habit before the establishment of Shas."

In its statement Shas was portrayed as "saving the world of the Torah" and vowed to do so without the assistance of MKs "who hate the Sephardim and Mizrahim." Behind this confrontation lies a struggle over the 2008 state budget, which is expected to allot NIS 310.6 million to religious institutions, compared with NIS 692.2 million a year earlier.

Ashkenazi ultra-Orthodox journals, representing groups that are not part of the governing coalition, began a joint attack, unprecedented in its fervor, against Shas, which is part of the coalition.

But Shas maintains that the conflict lies elsewhere. They point to their decision to support a Hasidic candidate as mayor in Beitar, an ultra-Orthodox city, against the Lithuanian candidate.

Still, United Torah Judaism, the Knesset party representing the two mainly Ashkenazi Haredi groups, insists that the 2008 budget is the crux of the argument.

"I don't see why a cartoon is necessary when the real picture is much worse," said MK Yakov Litzman, chairman of UTJ. "I am surprised to hear that they are leaving the religious lobby. I expected them to leave the government," quipped MK Moshe Gafni, another member of UTJ.

Litzman acknowledged that there is bickering every year over the budget, but he charged Shas with "disgracing us."

"The budget for yeshivas was NIS 82.5 million last year and all of a sudden it is NIS 4 million," he said. "Do you have any other explanation for this except humiliation for the Haredim? Shas does not have so many yeshivas ... and in any case they will take care of themselves [from inside the government]."

Margi rejects these claims. "Do they think we are their employees? Rabbi Ovadia Yosef told us, after he saw the cartoon, that we were to announce in no uncertain terms that Shas is staying in the coalition in order to preserve the world of the Torah."

Related articles:

Sephardic, Ashkenazi rabbis at odds over 'shmita' ban bypass

Is the (Haredi) party over?

Overwhelming majority of 'A star is born' finalists are Sephardi

Bookmark to del.icio.us


	Religious identity
	Palestinian negotiator Erekat: Palestinians won't accept Israel as a 'Jewish State'


	Freedom of expression
	The head of Google Israel refuses to censor anti-Jewish hate material on the internet.




1.	Kol Hakavod Rav Yosef !	05:23	\|	Dave	16/10/07

2.	All the religious parties are right wing pawns	06:44	\|	Rowan Berkeley	16/10/07

3.	Go for it Shas.....	08:03	\|	Esther	16/10/07

4.	Beitar	08:13	\|	Mayer	16/10/07

5.	Dave #1	08:33	\|	Moshe	16/10/07

6.	Inquiring minds want to know	08:38	\|	Vitaliy	16/10/07

7.	Let`s shift to medersas funding!	08:39	\|	Ido	16/10/07

8.	310.6 million Not Enough?????	10:38	\|	B`Galil	16/10/07

9.	Ovadia Yosef	11:14	\|	ussishkin	16/10/07

10.	Yated Ne eman	11:22	\|	Yochi	16/10/07

11.	religious "leaders"	11:53	\|	Jimmy	16/10/07

12.	THE CARTOON HAD KADIMA IN IT!	12:23	\|	Erav Rav Watch	16/10/07

13.	Beitar elections	12:33	\|	Shula	16/10/07

14.	Rowan	12:34	\|	Ehud	16/10/07

15.	Cartoon spat prompts Shas to quit Knesset religious lobby	12:55	\|	Luci	16/10/07

16.	#14 Ehud	13:04	\|	Rowan Berkeley	16/10/07

17.	The religious schisms as a cultural phenomenon	14:02	\|	Albert Edelson	16/10/07

18.	Rabbi Ovadia Yosef	14:46	\|	Charles Star	16/10/07

19.	Unity v. gratuitous hate	15:27	\|	Polybios	16/10/07

20.	Our rabbis have failed us	18:18	\|	gb	16/10/07

21.	Yated Terror	19:02	\|	eddie	16/10/07

22.	Religious lobby	20:54	\|	Naim S. Mahlab	16/10/07

23.	Yated and Chabad	00:29	\|	Motic	17/10/07

24.	No racist cartoon. Don`t agitate, Ha`aretz.	02:01	\|	Fortuna Benmayor	17/10/07

25.	Burn down embassies and issue a fatwa on the cartoonist	02:19	\|	I Hate Stupidity	17/10/07

26.	gb #20 - Couldn`t have said it better	04:29	\|	Moises	17/10/07

27.	RABBI OVADIA YOSEF	05:16	\|	max	17/10/07

28.	Re#22	09:02	\|	JB	17/10/07

29.	Re#18	09:18	\|	JB	17/10/07

30.	The only thing shas protects ... is their pockets	10:08	\|	kobi	17/10/07

31.	Responce to Luci -- #15	10:10	\|	kobi	17/10/07

32.	Responce to Luci -- #14 & 16	10:13	\|	kobi	17/10/07

33.	Youtube on Ashkenazim	10:25	\|	Motic	17/10/07

34.	Danish Cartoons	10:33	\|	Joseph	17/10/07

35.	Ask any caricaturist...	13:20	\|	Blabass	17/10/07

36.	Congratulations to Haaretz again.	03:11	\|	Yaakov	13/11/07

Today Online


	Erekat: Palestinians will not accept Israel as 'Jewish state'
	Responses: 501


	Haaretz.com TV: Arab family takes in homeless Jews
	Responses: 150


	Israel to pardon dozens more wanted W. Bank militants
	Responses: 100


	Rosner: It's hard to find something to talk about at this year's GA
	Responses: 6


	At least seven killed as Hamas opens fire on Arafat rally in Gaza
	Responses: 166


	Religious or secular, regulars mourn end of Jerusalem's gay bar
	Responses: 46

Rosner's Domain

GA 2007: Oy vey, no catastrophe to talk about

The Ahmadinejad of the year (WTR)

Ahead of summit, N.Y. Congressman fears for Mideast stability

Rosner's Guest: Vanessa Ochs

More Headlines
03:14 Major IDF drill to simulate large-scale W. Bank clashes


02:36 PM: Israel, PA agree to plan that skips first stage of road map


01:56 In the West Bank, wanted militants are made to feel unwanted


21:30 Head of Google Israel refuses to censor hate material on the Web


03:36 Ultra-Orthodox program taught in schools despite ministry ban


03:09 Israel agrees to pardon dozens more wanted W. Bank militants


00:34 ANALYSIS: There isn't much to talk about at this year's GA


18:33 Erekat: Palestinians will not accept Israel as 'Jewish state'


21:57 Germany to provide 5m euros for Jewish museum in Warsaw


15:10 IDF reservist dies in armored vehicle crash during Golan drill