Shas Rabbis Blast Communications Reform Over Sabbath and Content Concerns

Secret recordings aired Sunday on N12’s main edition show senior Shas rabbis forcefully opposing Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi’s bill to weaken the media, raising doubts about whether it can still win a Knesset majority before the parliament is dissolved. The rabbis object mainly because the proposed free app could encourage Sabbath desecration, and they also fear inappropriate content could be made available through it.

Rabbi Reuven Elbaz, a Shas Council of Sages member, delivered especially harsh criticism of Karhi, saying, “זה אפס מאופס,” and warning that someone who promotes such a move may not “give an account” for it. He argued that opening an app for watching films and sports on Shabbat is “איסור גמור ומוחלט,” saying, “If someone opens the door, that’s it, there is no Shabbat and nothing.” He added that even if people do not keep Shabbat fully, “you should keep what you can,” but should not create a new breach.

Another council member, Rabbi Shlomo Machpud, also rejected the bill in emphatic terms, calling it “complete Sabbath desecration” and “a disgrace to Shabbat.” In the Knesset debate, United Torah Judaism chairman Yitzhak Goldknopf demanded that the government app not operate on Shabbat or Jewish holidays, and said the law must explicitly ban “obscene, missionary and violent content” through the app.

Despite the rabbis’ firm opposition, Shas’s political leadership is leaning toward supporting the bill. The party already backed the preliminary vote to split the legislation in order to speed up passage.