While anti-chareidi incitement and antisemitic behavior
toward the chareidi public is raging full force, and while
chareidi public figures are being interrogated by police for
supposedly provocative remarks, the State Prosecutor has
decided not to open a criminal investigation against Am
Chofshi for last month's campaign of incitement.
Am Chofshi recently launched a severe, unprecedented
incitement campaign against Israel's chareidi community,
revolving around the fact that yeshiva students do not serve
in the army. The organization circulated postcards with the
following text: "This year, 22 soldiers were killed in
Lebanon, and not one of the chareidi draft dodgers was killed
in the tents of Torah. You fight for us, and now we will
fight for you. Separate religion from money." On the other
side of the postcard was a picture of two soldiers looking at
a military cemetery.
The postcards also had other inflammatory statements, such
as: "More than 3,000 elderly people in Israel are waiting for
beds in nursing homes, and there are none available. But
fictitious chareidi organizations will steal tens of millions
of shekalim from the public treasury again this year."
These remarks resulted in a long line of irate, sharp
reactions, the primary one observing that these postcards go
beyond the permissible within legitimate public debate and
demanding that the organization's leaders be arrested and put
behind bars.
Secretary general of Degel HaTorah, Rabbi Moshe Gafni, also
wrote to the State Prosecutor, claiming that this was a
defamatory campaign, and that the aim of the organization is
to incite against the chareidi community. Rabbi Gafni
received a reply from Talia Sasson, in the name of the State
Prosecutor Edna Arbel, to the effect that she saw no reason
to open an investigation.
"After examining your complaint and the statements made by Am
Chofshi, I conclude that they do not constitute a criminal
offense. The statements about which you complain constitute
piercing criticism and the expression of a political-social
viewpoint. These statements have been drafted very sharply,
but still may not be categorized as criminal. The State of
Israel is a democratic country which supports the principle
of freedom of speech. As a result, the State Prosecutor
employs, inasmuch as possible, a policy of restraint in
instances of the incising of this freedom. I am certain that
such restraint is both worthy and desirable," stated the
letter.
In the wake of this letter and Yated Ne'eman's report
on the investigation of Rabbi Chaim Miller, Rabbi Gafni sent
an additional letter to Talia Sasson of the State
Prosecutor's office, in which he wrote: "Freedom of speech is
a principle which must be preserved as long as it does not
exceed the borders of human decency and develop into
incitement and encouragement to harm a broad community. The
day I received your letter, the media released a report that
an order had been signed to investigate Rabbi Chaim Miller
and to bring him to trial for his remarks. I don't agree with
what he said, but he himself retracted his statement and
apologized. In a democratic-egalitarian country, law
enforcement authorities must define precisely when speech is
considered legitimate, within the framework of freedom of
speech, and when it deviates from these standards."
Reacting to Rabbi Miller's investigation, Deputy Housing
Minister Rabbi Meir Porush stated: "It is difficult to
understand. The authorities involved in this case must
explain to the public why a policy of favoritism is being
employed. How is it possible that heinous remarks against the
chareidi communities, like those made by the chairman of the
Labor party, Ehud Barak, are not dealt with, while chareidi
public figures are being investigated by the Police. It is
difficult to rid ourselves of the feeling that this is a
policy which does not conform to regular standards of law and
order. This affair brings to mind the difficult, dark days of
the early history of the nation residing in Zion."
