Incitement against ultra-Orthodox Jews to be criminalized if new bill passes
The Knesset’s Ministerial Committee on Legislation voted to expand Israel’s 1977 anti-racism laws to include incitement against ultra-Orthodox Jews.
It is not yet clear what the penalties for incitement will be.
“In this bill, it is proposed to expand the definition of racism to include the prohibition of inciting racism toward the ultra-Orthodox population,” and curtailing “the entrenchment of the phenomenon of racism towards the ultra-Orthodox population,” according to the proposal.
“The time has come to draw a red line against dangerous and rampant incitement against the Haredi public,” said Knesset Member Yaakov Asher, the lawmaker in the United Torah Judaism partym who sponsored the legislation.
“The bill will enable extracting a price from instigators and will clarify that Haredi citizens’ blood is not cheap,” Asher said.
The explanation of the new bill argues that Israel's current anti-racism laws do not include the ultra-Orthodox population, as it applies “only in cases in which the racism is due to [skin] color or belonging to a race or national-ethnic group, and the ultra-Orthodox population is not distinguished by color, race, or national-ethnic. In this regard, it should be noted that the ultra-Orthodox population… is distinguished by its clothing and lifestyle, so there is no rationale for an exception to the provisions of the law.”
The bill cites the alleged expansion of incitement against the ultra-Orthodox religious community and mentions that it is “particularly grievous” when “carried out by elected officials with the aim of dividing the people and thus reaping political gain, while harming the entire public and the unity of the people.”
It is not the first time such a bill has been proposed. A similar bill was proposed by Asher in the previous government.
The All Israel News Staff is a team of journalists in Israel.
