Honenu Attorney Eladi Weisel; Photo credit: Honenu
Monday, July 15, 2024, 15:17 Two years ago, the Reform Movement sued the Derech Chayim Movement and several Yitzhar residents, Ori Kirshenbaum, Neriya Ofan, and Meir Ettinger in the Jerusalem District Court. The suit claims that the residents used the Derech Chayim Movement to promote the operation of the Avoda Ivrit (Jewish labor) referral hot-line. According to the suit, the hot-line violates anti-discriminatory laws by recommending businesses that employ Jews exclusively, and therefore must be closed. Honenu Attorney Eladi Weisel is representing the defendants.
During the legal proceedings, the prosecution attempted to prove that the Derech Chayim movement was actively operating the hot-line. Attorney Weisel made a counter-claim that the movement only publicized the activities of the hot-line, but were not the organizers, contrary to the claims in the suit. Therefore, the suit should have been rejected on the grounds of lack of relevance. Additionally, Attorney Weisel claimed that the operation of the hot-line that his clients publicized did not violate any prohibition against discrimination, as they encouraged the employment of Jews but did not advocate against employing Arabs. After a long legal battle, the court accepted this argument, and therefore the Reform Movement announced that they would withdraw the suit.
Neriya Ofan, Meir Ettinger, and Ori Kirshenbaum, who were sued in the name of the Derech Chayim movement, issued a statement: “It is very sad to see the energy invested by the Reform Movement in persecuting Jews and working against the fundamental concepts of ahavat Yisrael and Jewish solidarity. Sometimes love blinds, and unfortunately sometimes hate blinds. As was obvious from the first moment, the suit was ill-advised drivel. The conclusion was not surprising. We hope the Reform Movement will take advantage of the defeat they suffered in court for re-thinking their relationship with Jewish tradition.”
Honenu Attorney Eladi Weisel welcomed the court’s decision: “The ruling handed down today will put an end to the persecution that my clients underwent only because they ‘dared’ to publicly advance a moral, natural, and ancient Torah-value and sociological commandment: ‘And your brother shall live with you’ [Lev. 25:36]. We welcome the acceptance of our claims and hope that this is the last time that the court is forced to waste valuable time because of a suit trying to turn legal proceedings into a tool for persecuting deeply-rooted ethical values.”