Jerusalem – Rabbi Dov Lipman, who has been campaigning against ultra-Orthodox extremism in Beit Shemesh, has threatened to sue Beit Shemesh Mayor Moshe Abutbol for libel following a recent interview with the mayor published in the weekly Ami Magazine on January 4.
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Lipman, who heads the Committee to Sace Beit Shemesh, has taken particular issue with how Abutbol described him as having “fought against every building that went up to house haredim, night and day.” Abutbol also said in the interview that he “condemn[s] Dov Lipman and his cohorts who have been a thorn in the side of Bet Shemesh for years.”
In a letter sent on Monday to the mayor, Lipman’s lawyers, Azulay, Afik ,Ettinger & Co., state that legal proceedings will be taken against him unless he issues a retraction of his statements in the interview with Ami and pays NIS 127,000 in damages to Lipman.
The interview in AMI here PDF
Wow, this Lipman guy is worse than I thought!
I don’t see what the libel is, Abutbul only said the (not so pretty) truth. It might of not been proper for Abutbul to make such public statements, but that’s (unfortunately) the way it works in Israel. Nothing out of the ordinary here.
Wow, no freedom of speech? I thought the חרידים are fighting. Look what שנאה is going on here.
YJay1, The libel is that Abutbol straight out lied. In every single interview and article by or about Rabbi Lipman, as well as in every personal conversation I’ve had with him he makes it very clear that his goal is to have EQUAL affordable opportunity housing for the general population.
He defines himself Chareidi and is certainly not anti-chareidi. He’s anti-illegal and bullying behavior, and has worked tirelessly to fight the injustices found in our city. By claiming as the Mayor did, that he works against Chareidi buildings is false slander, hurts Rabbi Lipman’s reputation (which is excellent around here) and he deserves to have that cleared.
Good for Rabbi Lipman. Free speech doesn’t mean the mayor can get away with spewing forth lies. Surely even you, poser #4 , know this?
I would just like to say that I was a bochur in Beis Medrash with Rabbi Lipman in Eretz Yisroel, and he was a very shtark and ehrlich person, which it sounds like he still is today. It does not surprise me in the least that he fights for all yidden, and has the backbone to stand up to those who try to bully and lie to get their way.
I don’t think it’s far from the truth. Who says that the Mayor is spewing Lies.The Mayor is doing his job and he is being villified for no good reason. If anybody listed to the speech of Mrs. Margolese. She stated that there is a community being built for 30,000 chareidim and nobody asked the veteran citizens first. Excuse me, since when does one Jew need to ask another to build in the Jewish State. The Natl religious community hate the mayor because he is not buying into their act. While the violence is not made up .. it’s being used for political reasons.. They had no right to bring this to the international media and especially to the anti religious Yair Lapid. The media blitz on that child is way more traumatizing than the action that happened.
OK, I’m usually the one on the other side and a very vocal anti extremist but how does the media get away with defacing ALL charedim, including me when I’ve never hurt a soul but a mayor makes one interview and gets slapped with a lawsuit?
This is the media, this is what you get when you live a public life. What about freedom of speech?
I don’t get this at all.
I don’t know the mayor and I don’t know Rabbi Lipman. I just know that I hate the violence and I am extremely anti the crazy extremists that have taken over he Chareidi religion and they have made a bad name for us all. I have spoken out against them yet I still get lumped together with them because I am Chareidi. Tough luck. How much more for a public figure like Rabbi Lipman.
does lipman claim to be shomer torah and mitzvos? how can he circumvent the beis din process and go running to Arkoies?
There has to be some “legal” way to make life so miserable for these Charedim that they will either leave EY or withdraw from society.
#9 - That doesn’t mean that the Mayor is lying..
So much sinas chinam…. Into what have we gotten ourselves.
Dirty politics. Sounds like this Mrs. Margolese character might be in on it. Could the whole incident have been staged? These fake kanoim are on someone’s payroll anyway. Maybe the one who spit just switched sides so he had more money to visit the machon briut that night.
Is the mayor competent. is he qualified in any way to run a city. I would really like to know the answer.
#19 - It’s the BS community that should be sued for libel.. the libel that they have committed towards Chareidi Jewry worldwide.
#13- it’s not being done only for Chareidim.. that’s what you want to believe but it’s all over the place that it’s not so. it’s called paranoia. still.. nobody has to ask the DL community for permission to build a Chareidi community. There is no such thing s a completely Chareidi community even in Bnei brak so stop your huffing and puffing all over the internet.
Y “RABBI” lipman? A guy who its actually in charge of the fight in beit shamesh….
a plague on both of your houses