Laura Warton, who heads the Meretz faction in Jerusalem, called for the firing of the heads of the Ramot area talmid torah that cancelled Sunday’s planned presidential visit on the first day of school in the chareidi sector.

The heads of the school informed Jerusalem City Hall that they do not want President Reuven Rivlin to visit as planned following the president’s remarks following the fatal stabbing attack at the Jerusalem toeiva parade. The president’s logistical and security personnel have already visited the school to lay out the details for the visit, which was called off just days before it is to have taken place.

In her letter to Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, Warton writes “We were shocked to hear of the Kehillas Yaakov chareidi school’s refusal to have the president visit at the beginning of the school year”.

She criticized the school’s disrespect for the president, expressing anger, especially following the murderous stabbing attack. The letter adds “the school’s refusal to host the president highlights senior officials do not understand the gap that exists between the chareidi community and Israeli society after the era of enlightenment that free society from prejudice and ignorance of many types”.

As such, Meretz is calling on the city to immediately fire the school’s principal and launch an investigation to determine just who pressured the school to act as it did.

The letter concludes “The state and its laws are under attack from offensive repulsive fanaticism. We must not surrender to those threatening the government and we may not compromise those seeking to undermine our values. We hope that your will act immediately and without compromise. We demand red lines in dealing with extremists in the city, something that has been lacking in recent times. Standing firmly behind the president must be the beginning of new red lines that will signal the beginning of a new policy”.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)