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Ultra-Orthodox boycott Israel’s largest bakery after chairman protests outside rabbi’s home

“Bar Lev does not understand what the Torah is and what is great in the Torah.”

By World Israel News Staff

Ultra-Orthodox lawmakers called for a boycott of Angel Bakery, Israel’s largest bakery chain, after its chairman, former public security minister Omer Bar Lev, protested outside the home of Ashkenazi scion Rabbi Gershon Edelstein in Bnei Brak on Thursday.

Bar Lev posted a photo of himself with the “Brothers in Arms” protest group on Twitter, accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Justice Minister Yariv Levin of bribing the Haredi parties to “vote in favor of the coup d’état,” referring to the government’s plans for judicial reform, in exchange for the the Draft Law, exempting young Haredi men from the army.

Several large yeshivot, or Jewish seminaries, announced they would join the boycott against Angel’s, including the Hevron Yeshiva in Jerusalem, which has over 1000 students and regular orders from the bakery.

United Torah Judaism MK Moshe Gafni tweeted, “Omer Bar Lev and Angel have no respect for the Torah!”

“You should seriously consider whether you can trust their kashrut. Bar Lev does not understand what the Torah is and what is great in the Torah and everyone has to calculate whether it is possible to buy food products from them. I despise him!” wrote Gafni.

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Labor Minister Yoav Ben-Tzur (Shas) slammed Bar Lev’s attendance 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 Gershon 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,” he said.

“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,” he added.

Deputy Minister Uri Maklev (UTJ) criticized Bar Lev for expressing “extreme opinions about the Haredi and right-wing public

“As an active participant in the incitement against the Haredi public [he] must pay the price,” Laklev added.