Secular Jews are ‘evil’, students taught at school connected to Peretz

Students in a pre-army school with ties to Minister of Education Rabbi Rafi Peretz were taught that non-religious Jewish people are ‘evil’ and they should not come near them or even enlist in the IDF, Channel 13 reported on Wednesday.
 

In the class, which was filmed, Rabbi Asaf Naumberg explains that non-religious people are prone to heavy drinking and that men and women socially interact. “Where have you heard that it’s possible to bring [such] evil people closer [to religion]?” he asked his students.
 

Naumberg even goes on to say that it’s wrong to enlist in the IDF if service brings you in touch with such people.
 

When challenged by a student Naumberg confronted him and said religious people should not “become a rag” and “nothing” just so “we could have an army.”
 

Head of Yisrael Beytenu Avigdor Liberman responded to the recording saying, “We’re no longer surprised. Time after time we are exposed to the true intentions of Education Minister Peretz and his buddies, trying to turn the state of Israel into a theocracy.”
 

Former Labor MK Revital Swid was also quick to react on Twitter: “In a properly functioning government, Rabbi Rafi Peretz would resign tonight from the Ministry of Education. The deplorable content heard in the Otzem school, which was headed by Peretz until recently, is starkly anti-secular, anti-IDF and anti-Ben Gurion. His silence regarding the report speaks volumes of his agreement on these matters. Shame on him and his entire party. That’s not the ‘Israeli’ unity they speak of.”

Head of the Democratic Union Nitzan Horowitz responded, “Peretz must be suspended immediately. We mustn’t leave the education system in his dangerous, violence-inciting hands for one more second. He is not Minister of Education – He is minister of darkness. A school that incites violence must be closed.”

MK Meir Cohen from the Blue and White party tweeted that the video was “A disgraceful horror show, that has absolutely nothing to do with education. It is disheartening to see how hate groups can form in the guise of educating and preparing for army service. It’s immoral, and mainly disgraces and stains the name many other, very good pre-army service schools. Peretz, stop this shame.”
 

Minister of Transportation Bezalel Smotrich backed up his fellow Yamina party member Peretz, saying “It’s hard to argue with the quality of people produced by Rabbi Peretz’s school and the wonderful pre-army service school program in general – the best fighters, officers and commanders in the IDF, and people who contribute so much to society. If these are the products, I guess the education there must be good. Everything else is fake.”

Idan Zonshine contributed to this story.