Letters to Shas MK: 'Can I be yeshiva student?'

Protest against bill granting stipends to haredim gains steam; hundreds of sarcastic letters, faxes sent to office of proposal's initiator, university students block road in Herzliya

Dor Glick|Published: 10.28.10 , 16:32

Amid the public uproar over a bill calling for resumption in allowances to full-time yeshiva students, dozens of supporters of the "Free Israel" movement sent protest letters and faxes to the office of Shas Knesset Member Moshe Gafni, who initiated the proposal.

The sarcastic letters sent to MK Gafni read, "Following the numerous reports (regarding the bill), I have come to the realization that I belong to a group of people who are the State of Israel's suckers. Therefore, I ask that your office register me as a regular yeshiva student before the bill is passed."

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The movement plans to set up stands in Jerusalem, where secular youngsters will be asked to sign on a document stating, "I hereby declare that in exchange for monthly stipends and an exemption from army service I will sit in Torah's tent."

Meanwhile, student protests against the bill continued. In Herzliya hundreds called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to annul the bill. The protestors waved signs reading, "Bibi, don't turn your back on the students."

"It's disgraceful that we, who want to study, are forced to miss class and block roads while the haredim sit at home, do nothing and still receive money," one of the university students said.

"We are determined to continue with our struggle until the government stops being afraid of the haredim and starts looking after people who study and work for a living," he added.

Police arrested three protestors, including National Student Union Itzik Shmuli and Yair Itzhar Belachovsky, chairman of the Interdisciplinary Center's student union.

Tomer Velmer contributed to the report