Former Jerusalem Affairs Minister MK Meir Porush delivered a speech on Tuesday from the Knesset plenum, sharply attacking a plan to push the Chareidi public out of Jerusalem, as well as Immigration Minister Ofer Sofer, whom he accused of lending a hand to the harsh sanctions imposed by Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara against Lomdei Torah.
After his opening remarks detailing the projects he developed in Jerusalem during his term as minister, he said: “I recently saw a newspaper clipping in which an economic commentator boasted shamelessly about how high-rise residential towers are being built specifically to keep the Chareidim out of the city.”
“I want to say to that commentator and to whoever sent him: you’ve come to the wrong address. Jerusalem is not Tel Aviv! Maybe you managed to push Chareidim out of Tel Aviv, maybe you squeezed them out of other cities — but here, in the King’s palace, you won’t be able to drive Chareidim out of Jerusalem. Jerusalem is Jerusalem thanks to the Chareidim, and anyone who tries to restrict the Chareidi public’s place in the city will discover that he is left without the values that sanctify this city.”
“I mentioned earlier that in the last Knesset elections, over 40 percent of Jerusalem voters cast ballots for Chareidi parties. Therefore, during these days, it’s impossible not to mention the persecution of the Torah world and the Chareidi public in particular — and this is directly connected to why we are gathered here today.”
“The city of Jerusalem maintains its Jewish majority solely because of large Chareidi families. I suggest that everyone here take out a calculator and examine what the implications for Jerusalem would be if the Chareidim were pushed out. And I strongly advise against anyone here trying that in practice.”
At this point, Porush turned directly to Immigration Minister Ofir Sofer, a member of the Religious Zionist party. “I want Minister Sofer to listen carefully to what I am saying. I’ll give you the number of votes for the Chareidi parties in Jerusalem four years ago. UTJ received 63,008 votes. Shas received 48,470 votes—together, 111,478 votes in Jerusalem. Religious Zionism–Otzma Yehudit received 37,635 votes—meaning, UTJ and Shas together are three times the size of the Religious Zionism party that Minister Sofer represents.
“And I say to you, Minister Sofer, listen well: the Religious Zionists have six mandates in Jerusalem. The Chareidi public has 16 mandates in Jerusalem —Degel HaTorah has six, Shas has six, Agudas Yisrael has three, and the Peleg has one.
He sharply criticized Sofer for supporting Baharav-Miara’s harsh sanctions on Chareidi families. “I ask you, Minister Sofer: who are you trying to push out of Jerusalem? You are supporting those sanctions the Attorney General is imposing on the Chareidi public, and you say nothing when over 113,000 people, among them over the age of 18, live in Jerusalem. You’re the immigration minister? I, too, was an immigrant — my great‑grandfather immigrated from White Prussia. What kind of behavior is this toward the Chareidi public?”
“In these difficult days, I daven from the depths of my heart for the coming of Moshiach — I hope that here it is still allowed, because I saw that in the army it is already forbidden. But for us, honorable chairman, the anticipation for geulah is what sustains us, as the Navi Zechariah prophesied about Jerusalem in the days of Moshiach: ‘So says the Lord: I have returned to Tzion and will dwell in Jerusalem… Old men and women will yet sit in the streets of Jerusalem… and the streets of the city will be filled with boys and girls playing in its streets…’”
“These children, from the large families in Jerusalem whom some of you choose to attack — they are the future of eternal Jerusalem.”
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
