Israeli Army Radio Sorry for ‘Cannibal’ Jibe Aimed at Ultra-Orthodox
Image by getty images
An Israeli public radio station apologized for airing offensive statements about Haredi Orthodox Jews.
In a satirical bit on Army Radio’s late night program, comedian Niv Majar recommended controlling overpopulation through cannibalism.
“We should go ahead and depopulate,” Majar said. “But there’s a paradox here because the people whose population I would like most to reduce are the Haredim, but they probably taste awful, bland.”
Army Radio host Noa Tzinman interjected, “They stink because they eat Matzah balls.”
On Friday, Army Radio released a statement which said the station “rejects offensive statements that were made about the Haredi public on Independence Day eve by a guest interviewee.”
The statements were “inappropriate and represent neither the station’s views nor its staff.” Army Radio apologized to anyone offended by the statements.
The statements, which come amid a heated debate in Israeli society on conscription of Haredi Jews into the Israel Defense Forces — Army Radio’s owner and operator – triggered protests online and at the radio station.
Earlier this week, activists for the lobby group Dosim showed at Army Radio’s Jaffa headquarters and handed out matzah balls to soldiers.
It’s our birthday and we’re still celebrating!
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news.
This week we celebrate 129 years of the Forward. We’re proud of our origins as a Yiddish print publication serving Jewish immigrants. And we’re just as proud of what we’ve become today: A trusted source of Jewish news and opinion, available digitally to anyone in the world without paywalls or subscriptions.
We’ve helped five generations of American Jews make sense of the news and the world around them — and we aren’t slowing down any time soon.
As a nonprofit newsroom, reader donations make it possible for us to do this work. Support independent, agenda-free Jewish journalism and our board will match your gift in honor of our birthday!
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
