Shas party spokesman Asher Medina on Wednesday revealed the reason that a law which would force haredi girls' high schools to accept every eligible student has not advanced.
Speaking to Kol Barama Radio, Medina explained that the Regional Enrollment Law, intended to resolve the Jerusalem high school crisis and address alleged discrimination against Sephardic girls, has not advanced.
In light of the delayed start of the school year in some high schools for girls entering ninth grade, Medina explained that there is a simple solution to the problem, but the Ashkenazic-haredi Degel Hatorah faction strongly opposes it.
According to Medina, a regional enrollment system would allow most girls who studied together in the same neighborhood throughout elementary school to continue studying together in the early high school years. However, he disclosed in an interview that Ashkenazic-Lithuanian haredi representatives in Jerusalem from the Degel Torah faction strongly oppose the plan.
“Degel Torah has sent us messages in the past that if we advance a ‘Regional Enrollment Law,’ they will never sit with us in the same coalition again. For them, it’s a red line worth dying for,” Medina told Kol Barama.
Tensions between the parties escalated earlier this week when Degel Hatorah's MK Moshe Gafni spoke at a school inauguration in Beit Shemesh, urging Shas: “Open new educational institutions, as would be expected for a quality community, so your daughters have a place to study pleasantly and comfortably, without needing to crowd into our institutions.”
Shas quickly responded, stating: “The Shas movement's life mission is to establish top-tier educational institutions for the Sephardic public, and that is what it has done, with great success, for decades.”
The party added with irony: “Kudos to Rabbi Moshe Gafni for emphasizing how important it is that the Shas movement remain strong and independent.”
Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion addressed the crisis Wednesday at a school inauguration in Neve Yaakov, saying: “It pains me to know that a student in Jerusalem is left with no school placement. It doesn’t matter which sector you come from. I don’t sleep well at night when I think or know that a student in Jerusalem has no place to study.”