Restricting entrance to only one section of the public is NOT "living in harmony". IMO the Beer Sheva public should challenge this in court.

they pay no taxes, do no work, or defend Israel yet the govt bows down to them. Unreal.

and obviously inspire more barbarism.

DARKNESS,NEGATIVITY,HIDDEN, SHADOWS,NIGHT,BLIND, PRETENDERS

Some people have certain standards, and so try to organise a day where they do not have to breach these standards.

We pay taxes, work and raise the Jewish majority of this country with our blood, sweat and tears. And if you don't believe it, then come to one of our indescribably lovely haredi shabbes tables, and see why the state of Israel is concerned for haredim also.

Their exceptionalism defies everyhthing that we value as Jews--literally we do not need a thing from them and they are an embarrassment to Jews worldwide. My sense is that they are in Israel because they can not get much welfare in New York! So for this day at the zoo-or any other in haredi life--do they separate the male deer and monkeys from the females?

Making the Zoo accessible to a minority ONE-DAY a year doesn't sound outrageous to me: It sound compassionate. If their beliefs make it impossible for them to come during normal operations it's a mitzvah for the city to give them ONE DAY. The hostility and intolerance of several comments is really uncivilized. I’m sure the zoo will post better signs next time.

They do know that males and females are kept in the same cages, right? Meanwhile, since when are they allowed to look at treife animals - or did they open the cages and shoo them out before the kinderlach saw them?

Alek you do NOT.

The Haredim are better suited for viewing in the zoo than the poor animals that are locked up there.

In US, Canada, UK and France the Ulta Orthodox work. Why not Israel?

Somewhat ironically, with those restrictions the end result is TWO zoos in one enclosure and a visitor from another planet might struggle to decipher who's keeping whom.

that's the kind of social/political regime they want

The mandatory military service apparently doesn't apply to you, so what about those blood, sweat, and tears you mentioned? I had no idea that sitting in a Yeshiva all day constituted as working hard with blood, sweat and tears.

My "bright" nephew became a "chozer beetshoova" at Chabad and now lives in Tzfat. We usually bring them some clothes, toys, crayons, etc for the children when we visit Israel. We were told that only kosher animals were allowed to be shown in the books. So how come they go to the zoo and see treif animals, let alone males and females touching. Or are the rules different for the non-Chabad haredim?

People reserve Disneyland and other parks for a day for a particular group. It is costly, but it is done at times.

as they DO work everywhere else, so the issue lies with, by deduction.....Israel. What is it about Israel that would discourage the Haredi percentages in the workplace? You've asked the Million Dollar question there. (By the way, there is definitely an issue, but "Ultra-Orthodox" do work in Israel as well, but the rabidly anti-Haredi media perpetuates the non-working Haredi stereotype to exaggerated proportions)

They did nothing wrong.They asked the direction of the Zoo,if renting the Zoo for one day is an option.The haredi being a big public ,it was economically interesting,and the proposition was accepted.

Brings on a raised eyebrow & cynical grin it does.

The reason for their exemption from the military is they are learning Torah. They have no right to stop learning Torah to go to a day at the Zoo. The IDF should go to these haredi only events and take away every adult male who has not served to the induction center.

I support the right of the Haredim and everbody else to maintain their own standards within their own community. But a zoo is a public facility open to the whole community. The accepted community standard in Israel does not include seperation of males and females at public events and in public places

... to the only free country in the Middle East. Sincerely, ayatollah Khomeini.

1. Beersheba International Airport 2. Beersheba Railway Hub connecting Eilat to Haifa 3. Beersheba Metro Why? Because Beersheba is the very Centre of Israel - the Gateway to North and South and is the one City in Israel with the space to grow

IM VERY ANNOYED AND I THINK ITS OUTRAGIOUS THAT THE HAREDIM IN JERUSALEM HAVE STOLEN FOOD AND SUPPLIES FROM THE HOLICAUST SUVIVORS AND THEIR CHILDREN, FROM THE HOLICAUST CHARITY THOSE TEN PEOPLE IF FOUND GUILTY, SHOULD BE PUT IN PRISON FOR LIFE, WITH NO PRIVILIGES.

"Equal rights" would permit days for non-charidim. This would mean they would be kept out if they did not dress accordingly. Where has ANYONE told the charidim how to dress? But this was not aparttheid, although it is discrimination of the majority by a government (the municipality).