Religion Magazine

Proposed Law: Racism Against Haredim

By Gldmeier @gldmeier
The current law on the books disqualifies anyone from running for Knesset if it can be shown that the person or party incites to racism. The law has been defined as actual racism - based on someone's actual race or skin color.
Immediately after the swearing-in ceremony for the 24th Knesset yesterday MK Yitzchak Pindrus (UTJ) proposed an amendment to this law. Because "Haredi" is not a race, anyone who is "racist", in the broader sense of the term, against Haredim is not really being racist and cannot be disqualified from running for Knesset for such behavior. Pindrus proposed to amend the law to include incitement against Haredim. 
Pindrus's goal is to either get Avigdor Lieberman disqualified from running for Knesset in future elections or to make him reign himself in and stop being so anti-haredi out of concern that he could be disqualified.source: Hamechadesh
What are the chances of this law passing? While the "coalition" (that does not yet exist but is currently in the form of a bloc of parties) does not necessarily have the numbers to pass this, The Haredi parties are friends with enough parties that they could rally additional support - maybe the Arabs parties who used to be the target of Lieberman's ire and often cooperate with the Haredi parties might support such a law and maybe some others who might not like Lieberman or some who might just want to curry favor with the Haredi parties. It doesn't seem likely to me, but I don't see it as being far fetched.
Even if it passes it seems like it might be hard to put into effect. Will they try to disqualify every political opponent using this law, saying they are racist against Haredim? For example, Yair Lapid because he has wanted to pass laws regarding Haredi community that Haredi parties were opposed to, such as drafting yeshiva bochurim or budgets for yeshivas or requiring core curriculum studies? What Lieberman recently said about Haredim might be far more clear for such a law, but there is also a lot of gray situations where they might try to use it.
To use such a law, if it should pass, would require the Haredim to break from previous policy. In cases where parties appealed to the electoral board to disqualify candidates based on racism or supporting terror, the Haredi parties always refused to vote saying if they do, it can boomerang and later be used against them. If they pass this law and then later appeal to the electoral board against Lieberman or any other candidate, that would be a significant break in policy. 
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