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‘Shame on you’: Orthodox man responds to anti-religious abuse on public bus near Tel Aviv

“Go to the army,” the woman shouted, not realizing the man in the kippah, white shirt and sidelocks was in fact an IDF reserve officer.

By World Israel News Staff

Yisrael Yonatan Hirsch, a haredi man, did not remain quiet when a secular woman riding the same bus – a complete stranger – accused him publicly of not having served in the army.

“Why do you jump to the conclusion that I didn’t serve in the army? Because I’m wearing a kippah and a white shirt?” he asked, referring to his traditional ultra-Orthodox garb.

She replied yes, after which Hirsch criticized her for being quick to judge people she doesn’t know.

“You should serve in the army, just like my brothers did,” the woman said.

“I did serve in the army, and I’m quite sure I served longer than you did,” Hirsch said, adding that he was a captain in a reserve combat unit.

Unmoved, the woman called him a “sexual pervert,” among other insults, and had the gall to ask why he dresses the way he does.

“It is my right,” he replied angrily. I dress the way I want to dress, and you dress the way you want to dress…that’s democracy. “Shame on you!”

“It’s unbelievable that each time that I ride on a bus in Hod HaSharon – the city where I live – I get harassed like this,” he said.

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Hirsch, a lawyer, filmed the incident, and the video went viral.

National Unity party leader tweeted: “The video of the ultra-Orthodox young man on the bus – it hurts [to see]. It doesn’t matter where a person served or whether he served, or what we wear and whether and to whom we pray – we should remember that we are all brothers. I hope that the passenger will find a way to apologize to him and that he will find a way to forgive her.”