Panel bans Shas campaign offering letter in Torah scroll to supporters
Central Elections Committee chief rules in favor of Movement for Quality Government petition, says promise is akin to a gift and thus breaks law
Sue Surkes is The Times of Israel's environment reporter
The Central Elections Committee on Thursday instructed the ultra-Orthodox Shas Party to remove by 6 p.m. a political campaign that promised to honor new supporters and existing supporters who recruit them with the inscription of a letter in a new Torah scroll being prepared for the Western Wall.
In Orthodox Judaism, making a donation and having a letter inscribed in a Torah scroll in one’s name is regarded as a praiseworthy pursuit.
Committee chairman Supreme Court Justice Hanan Melcer said the campaign contravened election law by appearing to offer a reward, in the form of a blessing, for party support.
Melcer was responding to a petition submitted by the Movement for Quality Government.
He added that the scroll could only be taken into the Western Wall plaza after polling day.
Shas responded by saying that the party would petition the High Court against the decision, which they labeled “cultural persecution.”
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