Knesset speaker expresses regret after Facebook account makes post against Haredim

Knesset Speaker Mickey Levy on Tuesday distanced himself from a post on his official Facebook account that attacked ultra-Orthodox Jews, blaming the comments on an error by an aide and denouncing them as unacceptable.

The comment by Levy’s account was written in response to a widely shared Facebook post on Sunday’s funeral in Bnei Brak of prominent Haredi Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, which drew hundreds of thousands of mourners.

That post showed photos of signs posted by Bnei Brak residents offering refreshments to the many out-of-towners who came to attend the funeral, along with the use of their bathrooms. The text in the post praised the residents, saying: “Bnei Brak is a city full of Torah, full of benevolence and generosity.”

In response, Levy’s account wrote, “Blah, blah, blah. Those who let their brothers die for them in the military and don’t share the burden show no benevolence or generosity.”

The reply was referencing the near-blanket exemptions from mandatory military service that ultra-Orthodox Israelis enjoy, a system that the centrist Yesh Atid party — of which Levy is a member — has long campaigned against.

Levy’s office said the post was written by one of his aides, who mistakenly used the speaker’s account instead of his own.

The speaker was on a flight at the time, the office said, adding that the “inappropriate response” had since been deleted.

Levy himself issued a lengthier statement after landing.

“The things supposedly written this morning by me were not written by me or with my knowledge, and do not reflect my views,” he Tweeted. “I have a lot of respect for the Haredi charity projects and I personally think the story that appears in the post is inspiring and moving.”

Levy said he’d spoken with the unidentified aide, who had apologized for the comment.

“The remark is not at all acceptable to me,” he said.

He also praised those Haredim cited in the original post who “opened their doors and their hearts, and this beautiful phenomenon needs to be encouraged and not attacked.”