Haredi teacher said fired for getting her driver’s license

An ultra-Orthodox teacher at a girls’ school in the largely Haredi West Bank settlement of Beitar Illit was reportedly fired from her long-time position after obtaining a driver’s license.

The woman obtained the driver’s license in order to more easily transport her disabled daughter, the ultra-Orthodox news website Kikar Hashabat reported Sunday. The family received funds from Israel’s National Insurance Institute to purchase a car to enable them to better care for their daughter, according to the report.

According to the report, the woman consulted with a senior rabbi in the community, and received his permission to take her driving test and obtain the license after her husband had trouble passing.

The article cited unnamed sources at the school. The sources quoted the school’s principal as saying of the teacher’s situation: “I don’t care. I will not tolerate a teacher with a driver’s license.”

The teacher and her family would not comment to Kikar Hashabat on the incident, saying they do not want to cause a hillul hashem, or desecration of God’s name.

When contacted by the Israeli daily Haaretz, the principal did not comment, saying: “I don’t give interviews, but this is really, really not true,” before hanging up, according to its English-language news website.

The Education Ministry is investigating the report, according to Haaretz.

Some ultra-Orthodox sects do not allow women to drive. Last summer, a letter was issued by rabbis of the Belz Hasidic group in London saying that children whose mothers drive them to the sect’s schools will be banned. The schools later walked back the letter.