The judge who extended the remand of former Chief Rabbi Yona
Metzger warned this week that the investigation material "will make the
two ears of everyone exposed to it tingle."
Well, it appears that ultra-Orthodox media consumers have no
cause for concern:
The sector's radio station and newspapers have been ignoring
the serious affair involving the former Ashkenazi chief rabbi – whether out of
embarrassment and "blasphemy" or due to a decision to abstain from
criminal reports.
The four haredi daily newspapers - Yated Ne'eman, Hamodia,
Hamevaser and Hapeles – did not write a single word about the suspicions
against Metzger. "The chief rabbi" was only mentioned in a critical
context in a report on the bill to cancel the duality of separate spiritual
leaders for the Ashkenazi and Sephardic communities.
'There are more interesting issues'
In haredi radio stations operating under the Second
Authority for Television and Radio the issue remained on the editing floor as
well, and was not mentioned in the regular news editions or in the leading
current affairs shows.
The only exceptions were haredi journalists Yedidia Meir of
Radio Kol Hai, who mentioned the affair on the morning show and escaped the
managers' radar, and Avi Mimran of Radio Kol Barama, who criticized "the
recent phenomenon of arresting rabbis" during the main news edition –
without explaining who he was referring to.
"Dealing with this criminal affair is disrespectful to
the haredi and religious listeners of Kol Hai, and especially to the Rabbinate
institution," explained Bezalel Kahn, head of the radio station's news
division.
One of the station's news editors added, "There are
other issues, more interesting ones, which we are trying to fill the programs
with: The assembly of the municipal coalition in Jerusalem, the Shaked
Committee (on an equal share of the burden), and more. The Rabbi Metzger affair
is a sensitive issue, and if there is other news – it's better to just ignore
it."
Haredi websites, on the other hand, which practice the
highest level of freedom of press in the sector, dealt with the arrest and the
suspicions with the required caution, usually as a news report without any
commentary.
Haim Iluz, editor of the Kikar Hashabat website, explained
that "as the leading haredi website, we report on the variety of issues
relating to the haredi public, and we also deal with and bring up issues which
the haredi media has been ignoring so far, in light of the fact that unlike
newspapers the website is not accessible to children, and this case is no
different than other cases."
Metzger won the position of chief rabbi thanks to the
support of the haredim and late Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, regarded by many
Ashkenazi Jews as the contemporary leading authority on Halacha.
On Monday he was arrested for the second time in five months
on suspicion of taking a bribe. According to the suspicions, millions of
shekels collected in donations were transferred to associations linked to the
rabbi. His remand was extended by nine days.
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