Irony Dept: Ultra-Orthodox Candidate Wins Beit Shemesh Revote (Following Ultra-Orthodox Voter Fraud) Thanks to Votes of Women, Usually Barred from Voting

Oh, and anti-Zionists too. Jerusalem Post:

One of the possible electoral sources for Abutbul’s extra votes was the radical, anti-Zionist factions in the city who usually refuse to vote in any elections due to their ideological opposition to the State of Israel. Although the rabbinic leaders of the anti-Zionist community spoke out against voting, there were reports of members of those groups voting throughout the day.

The haredi media also reported late on Tuesday that the leadership of the Toldos Ahron and Dushinsky hassidic groups had permitted women to vote in the election.

Washington Jewish Week:

The Jerusalem Post reported that groups of haredim who traditionally boycott the elections, and haredi women, whom some sects forbid from voting, were given special dispensation by their rabbis to vote. While not illegal, it does seem like a cynical use of democracy from at-times extreme Jewish groups that don’t recognize the State of Israel but are willing to benefit from the public dime.

This is the same constituency whose members made headlines by spitting on a modern Orthodox schoolgirl, attacked a public bus after a woman passenger refused to move to the back in order to accommodate ultra-Orthodox male passengers, and a couple of years earlier, threw parts of the city into chaos with daily riots. Mr. Abutbul himself displayed either ignorance of reality or a close reading of his constituency when he claimed that no gays lived in his city, adding, “Thank God this city is holy and pure.”

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