Beit Shemesh City Manager Admits He Has Not Followed The Law Banning Harassment Of Women, And Says He Has No Intention Of Following It Now

“[R]emoving the [haredi modesty] signs is the the city’s inspectors most marginal task…the other tasks include handing out parking fines…It’s been two years since I’ve given an order to remove those signs…I’m uncomfortable that we don’t remove the signs but we run a complex city, we have to balance everybody…There’s no point in removing the signs…it causes unnecessary disquiet [when haredim riot in response]. When I weigh these issues, I put the signs aside.…It’s a very expensive endeavor, we have no way to deal with it.”

Above: an illegal haredi sign in Beit Shemesh telling women to move to the opposite side of the street

Writing on the Forward's Sisterhood blog about the lawsuit filed against the city of Beit Shemesh by her and several other women who have been stoned, harassed and otherwise attacked by haredim in the city, Nili Philipp has some astounding quotes uttered under oath in court by the city's manager.

The lawsuit against the city, which is a bedroom suburb of both Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, seeks the removal of illegal haredi signs promoting gender segregation and "modest" dress.

There was a court hearing on June 16, and Phillip notes that the city manager of Beit Shemesh did not acquit himself well:

……[A] year ago Israel’s Attorney General published a report for advancing women’s rights that included a clause reminding municipalities of their obligation to remove any illegal and discriminatory signs, and here we were insuring that the good laws of the land were being enforced. Unfortunately it was more of an embarrassment. The statements by the city’s representatives brought no honor to our city, nor to the State of Israel, nor to the Jewish people. Here are some choice quotes from Mr. Matti Huta, the director of the municipality, in response to our lawyer’s questions:

“removing the signs is the the city’s inspectors most marginal task… the other tasks include handing out parking fines…” “It’s been two years since I’ve given an order to remove those signs” “I’m uncomfortable that we don’t remove the signs but we run a complex city, we have to balance everybody”

Mr. Huta made this statement after acknowledging that he’s required by law to remove the signs, evidently everybody doesn’t include women.

“There’s no point in removing the signs … it causes unnecessary disquiet. When I weigh these issues, I put the signs aside.” “It’s a very expensive endeavor, we have no way to deal with it.”

This point was repeatedly stressed throughout the hearing, referring to an incident years ago when a truck was allegedly vandalized while city inspectors attempted to remove one of the signs. Balancing the safety and well-being of women and girls against the cost of a truck exemplifies the municipality’s morally deficient attitude.

This gem came after our lawyer asked Mr. Huta what steps he’s taken to implement the Attorney General’s report: “I haven’t seen the report, I haven’t done a thing.”

Additionally, Mr. Huta claimed the municipality lacked the police support in dealing with any ensuing public disturbance as a result of removing the signs, a claim that was blatantly refuted in a meeting we held with the head inspectors of the entire Zion District and of the Beit Shemesh police department immediately following our hearing.

For the record, Mr. Huta is a licensed attorney, and judging by his knitted kipa, would be identified as modern orthodox, and this underscore the depth of the problem. It would be convenient to blame a handful of extremists for such chauvinistic behavior. Unfortunately it would be wrong. Too many mainstream Israelis are complacent when it comes to violations against women, and more than happily capitulate to extremist demands to further their own political and financial interests. It’s our hope that this lawsuit is a step forward in solving this problem, by conveying to Mr. Huta that insensitivity towards women is expensive.…

Huta works for the mayor and the city council. The mayor is a haredi rabbi. Moshe Abutbol, from the Shas Party and the city council is largely under his thumb.

Abutbol has consistently ignored haredi violence against women.

As for the police, they have done the same and, despite any promises made to Phillip and the other women, they are likely to continue to fail to enforce the law against haredim.

The solution to these problems is national, not local, and the proper address for the complaints of these women is the attorney general's office and, perhaps, the High Court.

But no matter what a local court or the AG or even the High Court rules, there will be no change in Beit Shemesh until Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government makes that change a priority.

Netanyahu, however, likely needs haredi support if he is to hold power after the next election – especially if Gaza flares up again – and haredim are his Likud Party's only natural allies in Knesset. As his history shows, cracking down on the abuse of women is a choice Netanyahu almost certainly will not make.

Comments

[PulpitRappi]

The solution to these problems is national, not local, and the proper address for the complaints of these women is the attorney general's office and, perhaps, the High Court.

Good analysis. But I do think that massive counterdemonstrations in RBS would help. The problem is that too many people are cowed into not reacting too visibly.

[S M L]

The not-so-slow-moving Talibanization of Israel is proceeding according to Haredi plan.

[yehuda fulda]

insalla all jewish women will wear the burka and the hijab..alla akbar...

[Elliot]

I could understand his supposed rationale if we were talking about those thousands of signs seen along roadways advertising mattresses for sale, sell your house fast, or work from home for $40/hr.

With that being said, we are not talking about the same thing. These modesty signs serve the same purpose as gang graffiti. And that is exactly what we have, a gang problem. They are signs marking haredi turf and warning those entering the area that they have to play by those rules if they want to make it out in one piece. By leaving them along, you indicate that you will not even take a symbolic step to curtail the gang problem. That's why many cities are so proactive in removing graffiti, especially gang tags.

The excuse that Mr. Huta is giving is saying that he is afraid of haredi gangs so he therefore refuses to do his job to keep the rest of his citizenry safe. Can you imagine a city manager in New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, or London refusing to enforce the law? They would be calling for police protection for their bylaw enforcement officers, and a pile of Tasers and empty jail cells to back them up if necessary. I'm not sure if Mr. Huta complicit in his refusal or incompetent, but in either case he may wish to seek a different line of work.

[Alter Kocker]

We will soon see squads of armed haredim scouring the streets looking for women who dare to keep their sleeves above the elbow. They will shoot these women on sight. And so begins the theocracy of Israel. At that point there will be no difference between us and Hamas.

At that point, there should be no support for Israel ANYWHERE. Let them overrun the country as it wouldn't be a jewish homeland any longer just a third world backwash of ignorance and extreme religion.

[Sarek]

Elliot - I love your analogy of comparing these signs to gang graffiti and turf-marking. I think it is spot on.

Makes me wonder - do the different "gangs" have different shades of blue in their tzitzit?

[Andrew Avraham]

A lawyer working for a religious municipality could very well be wearing a kippa because of his work environment. Not necessarily because he is religious himself.

If there is such a law against modesty signs, the AG has no intention of enforcing it as you very we'll know that Meah Shearim & most likely other locales have same or similar signs for decades going back.

[normpress]

Perhaps we could have a Failed Messiah Mission to Beit Shemish and its fellow traveler cities and wear short shorts, secular tee shirts and walk hand in hand down the street with members of the opposite sex.

[A. Nuran]

normpress - or arm-in-arm with members of the same sex stopping to kiss once in a while.

[John]

This should be approached with a sense of humor. Put up very similar signs, with silly instructions, like "NO MEN THIS SIDE OF STREET ON ALTERNATE TUESDAYS" or "NO HAT ZONE NEXT 100m".

The way to deal with over-the-top religion is making it look silly.

[S M L]

"...At that point there will be no difference between us and Hamas...."

Haredim are not 'us' in the case of the majority of those on this blog and the majority of Israelis however your point is well taken.