“The antisemites in Europe once blamed the Jews for spreading the Black Plague,” Bayit Yehudi faction head Shuli Moalem-Refaeli said.
By GIL HOFFMANUpdated: OCTOBER 23, 2018 03:07Vaccine syringe(photo credit: INGIMAGE)
There have been 882 incidents of measles since the start of the year in Israel and the contagious disease is especially prevalent among the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) community in Jerusalem, Health Ministry officials said on Monday.With the support of top haredi rabbis, the ministry will send mobile units to haredi neighborhoods in the capital to give shots.At a meeting of the Knesset Health Committee, MKs Yael German (Yesh Atid) and Yuli Malinovski (Yisrael Beytenu) said more had to be done to encourage haredim to agree to be vaccinated. Their statements caused an uproar.“The antisemites in Europe once blamed the Jews for spreading the Black Plague,” Bayit Yehudi faction head Shuli Moalem-Refaeli said. “Now, MK Malinovski is blaming the haredim for the measles. It is too bad that a meeting with national importance has stooped to a blamefest.”Malinovski responded that she had merely quoted facts and Health Ministry data and that she believes any parent who chooses not to vaccinate his children is irresponsible.“Is the Health Ministry also antisemitic?” Malinovski mockingly asked Moalem-Refaeli.