Cebu_4_2
28th January 2014, 03:33 PM
Israeli religious party anger at girlfriend choice of Netanyahu’s son
Leader of religious party Shas bemoans relationship of Prime Minister's son with Norwegian
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02804/netanyahu_2804907b.jpg Yair Netanyahu, left, with his father at the Western Wall in 2013 Photo: URIEL SINAI/AP
By Inna Lazareva, Tel Aviv
5:17PM GMT 28 Jan 2014
Israel’s ultra-Orthodox party has reacted in anger to the revelation that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s son is dating a non-Jewish woman.
Yair Netanyahu, 23, is reportedly in a relationship with the Norwegian national Sandra Leikanger, 25, and met whilst studying at the same university in Israel. (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/)
Prime Minister Netanyahu casually mentioned his son’s relationship and travels in Norway with his girlfriend to the Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg in Davos last week, Israeli press reported. The relationship was first reported by the Norwegian daily Dagen (http://www.dagen.no).
Aryeh Deri, leader of Shas, a political party that has for decades been one of the key power brokers in Israeli politics, reacted with the words: “Woe is us.”
The matter is of a wider importance to all Jewish people, he noted.
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“I try not to raise personal criticism, but if, heaven forbid, this is true, it is no longer a personal matter – it is a symbol of the Jewish people.”
The outcry is indicative of the prevailing approach among the religious Orthodox part of the Israeli society, which constitutes approximately 20 per cent of the population.
Other Israeli politicians have questioned the importance of the issue.
“The majority of the Israeli public is not concerned about this issue”, said Star Shaffir, an Labour party member of Israel’s Knesset and one of the leaders of the country’s social protests in 2011.
“There are bigger problems in our society – what we care about is what Prime Minister Netanyahu is doing. We should be happy that this Norwegian woman came to study in Israel and is taking the time to learn more about our country”, she told The Telegraph.
Lehava, an Israeli organisation with a stated aim “to prevent assimilation in the Holy Land”, received 16,000 likes after posting a message on its Facebook page condemning young Netanyahu’s choice of girlfriend.
“Bibi’s son has found a gentile! His father is proud of him and gives legitimacy to the assimilation and destruction of the Jewish people”, the group wrote according to the Jerusalem Post.
In Israel, there are no civil marriages, so Israeli couples can get married only in religious courts, and only to partners of the same faith.
Prime Minister Netanyahu’s second wife was non-Jewish, before she converted.
Leader of religious party Shas bemoans relationship of Prime Minister's son with Norwegian
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02804/netanyahu_2804907b.jpg Yair Netanyahu, left, with his father at the Western Wall in 2013 Photo: URIEL SINAI/AP
By Inna Lazareva, Tel Aviv
5:17PM GMT 28 Jan 2014
Israel’s ultra-Orthodox party has reacted in anger to the revelation that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s son is dating a non-Jewish woman.
Yair Netanyahu, 23, is reportedly in a relationship with the Norwegian national Sandra Leikanger, 25, and met whilst studying at the same university in Israel. (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/)
Prime Minister Netanyahu casually mentioned his son’s relationship and travels in Norway with his girlfriend to the Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg in Davos last week, Israeli press reported. The relationship was first reported by the Norwegian daily Dagen (http://www.dagen.no).
Aryeh Deri, leader of Shas, a political party that has for decades been one of the key power brokers in Israeli politics, reacted with the words: “Woe is us.”
The matter is of a wider importance to all Jewish people, he noted.
Related Articles
Israeli groups (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1400139/Whos-who-Israeli-groups.html)
15 Oct 2003
Israel’s religious extremists send the peace process up in smoke (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/8193545/Israels-religious-extremists-send-the-peace-process-up-in-smoke.html)
10 Dec 2010
Historic Roman terraces face threat from the building of Israel's separation barrier (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/10515954/Historic-Roman-terraces-face-threat-from-the-building-of-Israels-separation-barrier.html)
28 Jan 2014
“I try not to raise personal criticism, but if, heaven forbid, this is true, it is no longer a personal matter – it is a symbol of the Jewish people.”
The outcry is indicative of the prevailing approach among the religious Orthodox part of the Israeli society, which constitutes approximately 20 per cent of the population.
Other Israeli politicians have questioned the importance of the issue.
“The majority of the Israeli public is not concerned about this issue”, said Star Shaffir, an Labour party member of Israel’s Knesset and one of the leaders of the country’s social protests in 2011.
“There are bigger problems in our society – what we care about is what Prime Minister Netanyahu is doing. We should be happy that this Norwegian woman came to study in Israel and is taking the time to learn more about our country”, she told The Telegraph.
Lehava, an Israeli organisation with a stated aim “to prevent assimilation in the Holy Land”, received 16,000 likes after posting a message on its Facebook page condemning young Netanyahu’s choice of girlfriend.
“Bibi’s son has found a gentile! His father is proud of him and gives legitimacy to the assimilation and destruction of the Jewish people”, the group wrote according to the Jerusalem Post.
In Israel, there are no civil marriages, so Israeli couples can get married only in religious courts, and only to partners of the same faith.
Prime Minister Netanyahu’s second wife was non-Jewish, before she converted.