A senior haredi rabbi has denounced Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett as “a liar”, while ruling that the public should get vaccinated against COVID-19, despite misgivings about the government.
According to a report Tuesday by Kikar HaShabbat, Rabbi Benzion Mutzafi, a senior decisor of Jewish law in the Sefardic haredi community, responded to a question regarding whether one should rely on the government vis-à-vis its recently-launched mass vaccination campaign for children ages 5-11.
“Dear rabbi, I have no faith in this government, the prime minister has been shown to be a liar,” the questioner asked. “I’m very ambivalent as to whether to vaccinate my young children, we don’t know what the consequences of the vaccine will be. We, the parents, have been vaccinated, but what about our young children? Maybe we should just vaccinate them against the flu for now?”
Rabbi Mutzafi responded by denouncing the government and Prime Minister Bennett, while separating the issue of trust in the government from relying on the vaccine.
“He is a known liar,” the rabbi responded. “But the Holy Torah commands us to listen to the doctors and to get vaccinated.”