In Israel, MKs are generally permitted to move about freely, usually permitted access to areas closed to the general public due to their ‘parliamentary immunity’. However, when you are a chareidi MK arriving at a Beit Shemesh polling station on Reelection Day, it does not do the trick, at least not without a great deal of persuasion.
This was the surprising reception received by MK Rabbi Menachem Eliezer Moses, who was escorting a grandson to vote just hours before the young man’s chasenah. The fact that he was recognized and carries Knesset ID did nothing to impress police, who told the MK his grandson may enter the polling station to vote but was not being permitted in.
Moses explained that he planned to escort his grandson inside and escort him as he adhered to the words of gedolei yisrael, but he words fell on deaf ears. An argument resulted and Moses was seated in a side room and told to wait. The MK was outraged and accused police of harassing the chareidi voting tzibur in the city. He shouted their decision to bar him from entering was unjustified.
Finally, police permitted him to escort his grandson inside to the door of the voting area. He was not permitted to pass the threshold of the actual voting room, which is the standard operating protocol. Only an actual voter is permitted into the room when his/her turn to vote is called.
Moses told Kikar Shabbos that he is quite angry for he feels it is “totally legitimate for a MK to enter the voting room”. He explained that he plans to address the matter with the minister of the interior and the minister of public security.
Police declined comment on the specific event.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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6 Responses
The grandson needed handholding?
I still do not see the problem with what the police did. Since when does being an MK mean you are allowed to go where ever you please? Stop looking for reasons that you are being hated for being Chareidi, its getting kind of pathetic. Lastly, why does he need to shout? If he is such a prominent member of society doesn’t he have some self respect?
Perhaps he was concerned about who is grandson would vote for?
Presumably he was the grandson’s shomer since the article mentions that it was the day of his chasunah.
Had it been bennet, lapid or shaked had they also been prohibited from entering the voting building? Let’s be honest; it was nothing more anti chareidi.
Having a shomer on the day of your chassene is a nice minhag but it is not one of the 613 mitzvos. Israel is a Zionist nation not a Jewish State and therefore these type of minhagim are totally beyond the understanding of most Israelis. All they saw was that Moses was simply trying to be clever and make a scene. The Police should not have let him in at all.