He Will Send Your Children To CONCENTRATION CAMPS!
I didn't want to post any more about the Bet Shemesh elections, but then I saw this week's Chadash newspaper. Chadash was started by Mayor Abutbol's spokesman, and solidly (and exclusively) supports him. This week, amongst the many pro-Abutbol and anti-Cohen ads was this monstrosity:
Yes, it's a picture of charedi children behind barbed wire, i.e. using imagery of a concentration camp. That's what charedim are presenting as depicting Eli Cohen's aim!
Sure, a lot of charedi supporters of Abutbol would roll their eyes at this ad. But it's strange that they don't mind being part of a campaign that is so hateful. Apparently it's only sins bein adam l'Makom that disqualify someone, not sins bein adam l'chavero. Besides, the same tribalism and siege mentality that results in an ad like this, is also found in most Abutbol supporters, albeit not to the same degree.
Eli Cohen isn't remotely anti-charedi. The Abutbol campaign is desperate to paint him that way, in order to rally people behind them. They keep insisting that he is a person that is inciting hatred against them and wants to destroy them, despite the fact that he clearly is nothing of the sort. The hate and incitement is coming from the Abutbol campaign.
In an ironic twist, one of the themes of Abutbol's campaign is that he is all about "love, not hate." I'm not sure how the above advertisement is supposed to square with that.
Coming up in next week's Chadash: How Eli Cohen wants to drink the blood of charedi children!