Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz said in an interview Sunday that in his opinion “Hareidi radicals who act violently against women are evil psychopaths who belong in prison.” Steinitz said that it was up to the Interior Minister to order the Beit Shemesh municipality to remove signs that prevent women dressed “immodestly” from walking in certain parts of Hareidi neighborhoods. If this is not done, he said, he would see to it that the national government would take action to take over the local government and enforce the law itself.
With that, Steinitz said that he realized that those causing the problem were small groups who did not represent the larger Hareidi population.