Labor Party chairwoman MK Merav Michaeli attacked Deputy Finance Minister Michal Woldiger, after it was announced that the "transgender-boy," a girl who has been dressed as a boy for years, would be transferred from her school in Givat Shmuel to a school for gifted students.
"I want to say to Michal Woldiger from Religious Zionism, well done. You won," Michaeli wrote on her Twitter account. "You destroyed the life of an 8-year-old boy from Givat Shmuel."
According to her, "this coalition applied 'Jewish power' to a child whose sin was being born different. The education system is passing him on against his will and the will of his parents, in light of the government's demand. This brings shame and dishonor to Judaism. Shame on you."
The story of the "trans-boy" first broke at the start of the current academic year, when parents of children in the class were shocked to discover that among the third-grade boys was one who had been born a girl and nonetheless had been coming to school dressed in a yarmulka and tzitzit for years. Furthermore, even the teachers had been unaware that the child now being referred to as a "trans-boy" was in fact a girl. The principal of the school had known for several years but elected to keep the knowledge to herself; in addition, officials within the Education Ministry in the department dealing with state-religious education also knew about the child, and kept the matter secret.
Appeals to address the issue fell on deaf ears for months, while the municipality refused to approve the requests of parents of other children in the class to transfer their sons to other local schools. Finally, after the Hanukkah recess, most of the boys in the class were withdrawn by their parents and enrolled in a new, privately run class held off the school premises. Funds were raised to pay the teachers and many prominent rabbis visited to teach classes of their own.
Now, following the Ministry's decision to remove the girl from the boys' class, Rabbi Yaakov Ariel, a former chief rabbi of the city of Ramat Gan and a senior rabbi in the Religious-Zionist movement, has requested that the private class not be immediately dispersed, as it will likely take some time for the decision to be implemented and the parents refuse to return their sons to their regular class until the "trans-boy" is removed. Meanwhile, the child's family has announced that they will be appealing the decision which was "taken without our agreement or cooperation."