Thursday, September 28, 2023

Israel's High Court Orders Government To Explain Its Inaction Against Top Rabbi's Hateful Remarks

 Times of Israel and Jerusalem Post report that on Tuesday Israel's Supreme Court, sitting as the High Court of Justice, issued a temporary injunction ordering the government to explain why it has not taken disciplinary action against Jerusalem's Sephardi Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar for the severely derogatory remarks he has made about Reform Judaism, the LGBTQ community and the Women of the Wall Movement.  For example, Amar has blamed small earthquakes in Israel earlier this year on the LGBTQ community and has called Reform Jews "evil people who do every injustice ... against the Torah." Petitioners-- the Reform Movement, the Women of the Wall, and the Jerusalem Open House for Pride and Tolerance-- say they have asked the government to take action 16 times in the last four years, but nothing was done.