Many in the haredi community are calling to boycott Angel Bakery, Israel's largest commercial bakery, after the company's directorate chairman, former Public Security Minister Omer Bar-Lev, protested on Thursday morning outside the home of the head of Ponevizh Yeshiva, Rabbi Gershon Edelstein. The protest was organized by IDF reservists and veterans against the proposed haredi enlistment law.
The calls for the boycott began earlier Thursday, and several significant yeshivas have announced that they will cut ties with the company.
Among the yeshivas that notified that they would cut ties with the bakery are the Hevron Yeshiva in Jerusalem, Yeshivas Netiv Hadas - Kaplan, Yeshivas Toras Ze'ev Solovechik, and more. Each yeshiva that cuts ties with the bakery could mean hundreds of less regular bread orders from the bakery, with the Hevron Yeshiva alone numbering over 1000 students.
Labor Minister Yoav Ben-Tzur (Shas) criticized the former minister's presence at the protest: "Freedom of speech isn't the freedom to disgrace. Omer Bar-Lev and his privileged group, who demonstrated outside the home of Rabbi Geshon Edelstein, disgraced the honor of the Torah, and there is no way to forgive that. I was pained to see Omer Bar-Lev, who contributed so much to Israel's security, shaming his past and using the IDF as a tool to divide the nation.
The contribution of the haredi community to the state of Israel is tremendous, and no protest can fritter away the work of our hundreds of charity organizations that work for all Israeli citizens."
Deputy Minister Uri Maklev (UTJ) added: "Someone who was in public roles like a politician and a minister in the government and is now in a managerial and commercial position is expressing extreme opinions about the haredi and right-wing publics, attacks a public, comes to protest, and is an active participant in the incitement against the haredi public must pay the price."