Haredi politicians called for a boycott of the Angel Bakery chain after its chairman, former public security minister Omer Bar Lev, took part in a protest outside the home of Ashkenazi Haredi leader Rabbi Gershon Edelstein in Bnei Brak on Thursday.
Bar Lev posted a photo of himself with the "Brothers in Arms" protest group on Twitter, writing "Beyond and in addition to the importance of military service to everyone, the law of "no equality in the burden" (a reference to the Draft Law) that the coalition intends to enact is the bribe of [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and [Finance Minister Yariv] Levin to the Haredi parties so that they will vote in favor of the coup d'état."
עכשיו בבני ברק עם אחים לנשק. ומה הקשר בין ההפיכה המשטרית לשוויון בנטל? מעבר ובנוסף לחשיבות שרות הבטחון לכל, חוק ה"אין שוויון בנטל" שבכוונת הקואליציה לחוקק הוא השוחד של נתניהו ולוין למפלגות החרדיות בכדי שיצביעו בעד ההפיכה המשטרית. pic.twitter.com/VPrfFbR7G5
— עמר בר-לב (@omerbarlev) May 4, 2023
Haredi MKs say Bar Lev 'disgraced' Torah
The photo sparked outrage among Haredi politicians, with United Torah Judaism MK Moshe Gafni tweeting "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.
Angel Bakery is certified kosher by the Haredi Badatz Eidah HaChareidit kosher certification organization.
Labor Minister Yoav Ben-Tzur (Shas) attacked Bar Lev as well, saying "Freedom of expression is not the freedom of humiliation, Omer Bar Lev and the group of privileged people who demonstrated outside the house of Rabbi Gershon Edelstein, disgraced the honor of the Torah and there is no forgiveness for that."
"It saddens me to see that Omer Bar Lev, who contributed a lot to Israel's security, is shaming his past and uses the IDF as a tool to attack and vilify the people," added Ben-Tzur. "The great contribution of Haredi society to the State of Israel is enormous and no protest will undermine the work of our hundreds of charitable organizations that work for all the citizens of Israel without distinction."