“Since we heard that there were many cases of fraud and intimidation at the polls, and the Yachad Party as a result did not pass the threshold [of votes necessary to hold any Knesset seats], I hereby give notice that according to my Torah opinion anyone who has seen or heard of these things [the fraud and intimidation] must give testimony to the proper [legal] authorities [i.e., the police and the state prosecutor's office]…[in order] to bring truth, justice and integrity into their proper place – and as it says in the Torah, ‘if he does not tell [then] he will carry the sin.’”
Above: Rabbi Meir Mazuz
Tell Police About Sefardi Haredi Shas Party Voter Fraud And Intimidation, Top Rabbi Says
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
The rosh yeshiva (dean) of the Yeshivat Kisei Rachamim, Rabbi Moshe Mazuz, is also the spiritual leader of the Yachad Party formed by former Sefardi haredi Shas Party chairman Eli Yishai.
Yahad did not get enough votes in the Knesset election held earlier this month to have any Knesset seats.
However, there were widespread complaints of voter intimidation and voter fraud by Shas supporters meant to ensure Yishai’s breakaway party couldn’t be successful.
On Sunday, the Sefardi haredi radio station Radio Kol Hai reportedly publicized a letter by Mazuz about the alleged voter fraud. In part, it reads:
“Since we heard that there were many cases of fraud and intimidation at the polls, and the Yachad Party as a result [of that fraud and intimidation] did not pass the threshold [of votes necessary to hold any Knesset seats], I hereby give notice that according to my Torah opinion anyone who has seen or heard of these things must give testimony to the proper [legal] authorities [i.e., the police and the state prosecutor's office]…[in order] to bring truth, justice and integrity into their proper place – and as it says in the Torah, ‘if he does not tell [then] he will carry the sin.’”
Walla! News looked into post-election harassment of Yachad officials and connected institutions allegedly carried out by Shas supporters and apparatchiks in local governments – especially in the haredi city of Bnei Brak.
Maintenance personnel from Mazuz’s yeshiva located in Bnei Brak say that for many days after the election the city did not pick up the garbage.
Walla! News called the city’s Sanitation Department Sunday and asked about the complaint. “These are fantasies,” the department said in response after being told of the yeshiva’s complaints.
Sunday night after Walla!’s call, a garbage truck reportedly showed up and picked up the yeshiva’s garbage.
“They usually clear the trash every day. At most, they pick it up every two days. Last week, they did not pick up the trash throughout the week. Only on Thursday, they finally came and took everything. The truck driver asked me: ‘What happened for the city to cut you off?’ Then I finally realized that he had received orders from above, Moses, who is in charges of cleaning the yeshiva, told Walla! News. “After they took the garbage on Thursday, they didn’t come back. Even today, in the morning, while we saw passing garbage trucks on the street, workers collected garbage from all the bins from the surrounding buildings, except for the bins belonging to the yeshiva.”
The head of Bnei Brak’s Sanitation Department just happens to be a Shas Party apparatchik named Nati Nahum.
“Anyone who says such a claim [that he and his department are targeting Mazuz’s yeshiva for harassment over his support for Yishai and the Yachad Party], he lives in a dream world. There is no reality in which the municipality leaves bins full for five days. Maybe it wouldn’t be cleared for one day after the yeshiva is out on vacation. We have great respect for the yeshiva,“ Nahum told Walla! News.