I realized it was tongue in cheek, I simply wanted to up the ante. I do agree with you and very sadly I have to admit that I would like to see Jews leave Israel. There is no place in any society for scroungers, unfortunates and disabled, yes, but leeches, no. With inner grief and great consternation, but with total conviction, I say that these people, if not put in check, will be the downfall of Israel at worst, or at best will cause the world to despise us, this time with justification.

Unfortunately, I have to agree with everything you've said. Having spent many years of my life among secular Israelis, I saw the antipathy growing toward this sort of religious coercion. In fact, I often thought that if Arafat hadn't begun his suicidal terror campaign a few years ago, the next big conflict was going to take place between Israelis and ultra-Orthodox Jews.

IT APPEARS AS A NUTHOUSE. FIRST THE TERRIBLE ANTI-GAY VIOLENCE. NOW THE ANTI-WOMEN PREJUDICE. THERE SEEMS TO BE NO POLICE ENFORCEMENT AGAINST VIOLENCE--THROWING ROCKS, BURNING TRASH, ETC. I WANT TO VISIT SOMEPLACE WHERE PEOPLE ARE NOT ALLOWED TO RUN WILD IN THE STREETS. I FEEL VERY SAD BECAUSE I HAVE WANTED TO VISIT ISRAEL ALL MY LIFE.

Ok, This one I found hard to believe, so went to take a look in Bet Shemesh for myself. What is the REAL TRUTH?? The sign asks that women going to the clinic next door do not walk through the courtyard of the shul because sometimes the minyan overflows during Shacharit. they are not separating the sidewalks, otherwise this would be done in ALL Haredi neighborhoods, especially Meah Shearim and Kiriyat Sefer. There is very little reality in this article. The sad reality is thet each day Y-Net finds another way to drive a bigger dagger into the secular/religious rift and you talkbackers go and pounce of every bit of vitriole you can. Go and look for yourself and stop calling every Haredi person crazy. Yes, there are NUTS, we all agree. There are secular LOONIES too. Stop the hate .

I think you have to come , otherwise YOU will LOOSE ! Ramat Beth Shemesh bet , is a neighborhood of this town . You will not loose anything by not visiting them . When in your country you also not walk anywhere , so leave them . There are so magnficent other places to visit , all depends what yoou are looking for . Sun and seaside ? Plenty ! nature ? terrible places ? Museums ? tell me how much you can see . Food ? mediterannean , tastefull . If you prefer fast foods ? no problems , all the big international names . You do not speak Hebrew ? You wo'nt find many not understanding you . So do not loose , a wonderfull country , 95 % of them very warm .

Stop trying to cover up the facts and make excuses. No normal decent Israeli wants to live with these loonies. When it comes to sidewalks and I see them coming towards me, I step aside or cross over. I do not mean all religious Jews, only those in clown suits, fur hats and long white stockings with tzitziot hanging out. Eeechs !

question: since i would be an elderly woman traveling alone to israel from the usa, speaking no hebrew, knowing no one, would i be able to manage alright in israel if i came to visit? please let me know what you think. thank you.

Why not , i'm sure that you are not the first "elderly" woman as you say to travel alone here If you are worried , maybe try to come with an organized tour , there are certainly some . Ask a travel agency , they probably will have something for you . You are welcome !

Have they no bigger problems to worry about than sidewalks and encountering the other sex? Are all their children happy and healthy, and they have no poor or elderly to take care of that they have time for this nonsense? I do not live there and do not wish to ever go by that neighborhood, but am pissed about this new development. Why? Just the other day I watched the news and saw a 20 year old ultra-Orthodox guy who has been arrested - he has molested about a dozen kids. Why does that happen? The sexual segregation is a big factor in such a perversity. His hormones are raging and he cannot even look at a girl [not to mention that masturbation is forbidden], so he turned to little children and ruined their lives. And you know what? THis segregation is just going to promote this kind of mostrosities. Men cannot control themselves around women but instead of admitting it and saying yes, we are weak, we were tempted, they turn the table around and say she's to blame, she's the temptress. Well, you know what? Men ARE to blame. MEN. And they impose such stupid, crazy rules to defend their weaknesses. I never had much respect for the ultra-Orthodox .

Do the ultraorthdox jews not know that by separation they are following the same as their kurran reading enemy,no wonder isreal has such a hard time,learn to be more civil than the muslim.

If the ultra orthodox men cannot walk on the same sidewalks as women maybe they need to lock themselves up in something like a monastary, where they can avoid women and spend their days in prayer,and only seeing women when they are married and can relieve their sexual needs by going home to their wives and then returning to the "monastary", after thus avoiding strange women.

Modesty has nothing to do with protecting women, it's to help men who can't control themselves. Men have been refusing to take control of their actions since Brayshite. "The woman tempted me and I did eat." This from the suposedly more intelligent of the two!

Haredim are nuts! they are a liability to Israel. A spot on democracy. After the terrorist threaths against the Gay community, i belive they are capable of anything. Chanufim!!!! I

What angers me , is , that in th 21 th century people live in such a way . Submissive women , what a pity . We have to know that most of those women were "educated" in this sad way of life , by OUR standards , sad .

Do they need to walk in a certain direction ?, like women one way and man the other to avoid colusion ? it is just too funny.

When will these men take responsibility for their own desires instead of blaming the women for the fact that men and women were designed to attract each other. I am not for wanton sex... but there is a lot of room in between and common sense has made way for supression of females in this case

Where does it say in the Torah, that Jews need to segregate the sexes to the maximum degree? I admin i'm stupid, but I think someone is writing their own policy.

Agree with you Charles. Also, this really makes me laugh. Apparently, orthodox should stay together, not allowing women into a family business. Question: why did those orthodox protested soooooo much against gay parade in Jerusalem? This article shows that they apparently hate women and want to stay in men-only groups. Geezzzzz..... Stone age. Ha ha ha ha, you Jews are funny :)

Amen, Brother.

I sat in the bus # 40 in Tel Aviv . A charidi man wanted to come in , but changed his mind when he saw the driver was female . I sat in the front row and saw it , unbelievable ! but true

As a good friend of mine once said... "It's a shame that the 99% make the 1% look so bad."

How long till we see 13 year old rape victims stoned to death in the streets in Israel