Board of Deputies president Phil Rosenberg has condemned the “ugly tone of interdenominational politics in Israel” after a Likud MK implied that an opposition politician was not a real Jew because he was a Reform rabbi.
Likud’s Galit Distel-Atbaryan had been chairing a session of the Subcommittee for Jewish Thought in the Education System when she ordered Democrats MK Gilad Kariv to be removed saying, “Remove the Reformist, [the] Jews here want to continue.”
Kariv, former CEO of the Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism, had earlier argued that girls should be allowed to wrap tefillin as part of an initiative to allow tefillin stands in secular schools.
Phil Rosenberg delivers presidents address at Board plenary
Distel-Atbaryan responded by saying: “Listen carefully, Gilad Kariv. As long as I am leading the Subcommittee for Jewish Thought in the Education System, I will personally prevent the takeover of the education system by Reformist organizations.
“No matter how much you talk about religious coercion, Israeli students will know the Bible. No matter how much you try to instil fear in the secular public, Israeli students will know the biblical story.
“No matter how much you lie, distort, incite, hate, and sow discord, Israeli students will return to learning about their identity and knowing their sources. Because of fear-mongering by people like you, schools in Israel have simply stopped teaching the Bible.”
Kariv responded: “The hateful attack and loss of composure by Distel-Atbaryan testify to her and her coalition partners’ convoluted Jewish worldview – a zealous, misogynistic, isolationist, and resentful Judaism.
“We will not allow this view of Judaism to take root in our children’s schools. We will introduce them to a tradition that embraces diversity, humanity, and inclusion and that serves as the meeting point between tradition and renewal.”
Likud MK Galit Distel-Atbaryan
The Board’s president responded to Monday’s exchanges in the Knesset by telling Jewish News that “the ugly tone of interdenominational politics in Israel, as seen in this exchange, does not serve the unity we want to see, particularly in these dark and difficult times.
“We want to see Israel as a Jewish state that caters to all streams of Judaism.”
Kariv has repeatedly faced attacks from ultra-orthodox politicians where he has directly or indirectly been accused of not being a “real” Jew.
Gusti Yehoshua Braverman, who represents the Reform Movement at the World Zionist Organisation, said Distel-Atbaryan’s remarks were “not only offensive and cruel, but reflected a deep and deliberate alienation toward millions of Jews in Israel and around the world who identify with Reform and Conservative Judaism.
“As a Zionist woman, a Reform Jew, and a public representative of the World Zionist Organisation, I utterly reject this statement, which disgraces the Knesset and the core values of the Jewish people.”
