Quote of the Day

the women need to respect the sensitivities of the residents in a private neighborhood..
  -- Mayor of Bet Shemesh Moshe Abutbol, talking about the court decision today regarding the signs against women (i.e. about dressing modestly, about not walking on certain sides of the street, etc) in Bet Shemesh... Perhaps Abutbol transferred ownership of those neighborhoods to the local residents. If not, I am not sure what makes them private and why he thinks the law needn't apply to them.
you can hear the entire interview with Mayor Moshe Abutbol in which he said the above

While Abutbol's argument almost seems logical - it is the job of the police to deal with the illegal activity of the residents hanging the signs and not his job - the court refuses to accept it. In part, as was expressed in court today, because the judge threw back at Abutbol something he himself said in an interview on a Haredi radio program that he supports the continued existence of the signs. The courts said if he supports it he cannot turn around and be believed to say he does not support it and just cannot do anything about it.
I have no idea why he is not fining the offending people with hefty fines. When forced, he takes the signs down and lets them immediately put them back up. When he wants to deal with other illegal activity in the city, and make money off it, he seems to find ways.
Anyways, the courts gave him to Sunday to have the signs removed for good. If not the fines previously decided upon will be strictly enforced, and the court will consider jailing him for contempt.
If he lets it get to the point that he gets arrested over it, he'll be a hero to the Haredi community. I can hear the platitudes already of נתפסת על דברי תורה and the like.. Besides for jail being a perfect launching point to a career in national politics with Shas, as some have joked, his hero/martyr status will send him far...
It is going to get interesting in Bet Shemesh over the next few days..
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