Shtrasler: "I repeat what I said, there is no Orthodox doctor in Israel"

"I will not take back what I said, there is no Orthodox doctor in Israel," says the economic commentator and author at Haaretz this evening (Thursday), Nechemia Shtrasler, in a conversation with B'Chadrei Charedim - despite the outbreak of rage he raised earlier this week on what he said in an interview program on television.


When interviewed for the program 'Do not Ask' by Shai Stern, Shtrasler spoke about the integration into the labor market and the IDF. One of the sentences which jolted the ultra-Orthodox viewers was: "You know that there is no Orthodox doctor in Israel?"

But when speaking with B'Chadrei Charedim he explains: "I was interviewed by Shai Stern, and as many know, the television program films you talking fifteen minutes and at the end put 40 seconds on air. The complete sentence I said at the program is that there are no Orthodox doctors in Israel who were born in Israel and studied in ultra-Orthodox institutions in Israel.


"A person educated at the Haredi institutions cannot learn medicine, since he did not study the core curriculum, and has no high school diploma. Most doctors, who are Orthodox, studied abroad or alternatively are Baalei Teshuva and had been educated at secular institutions."

On Tuesday night Shtrasler was flooded with dozens of messages which came to his personal cell phone. "When I got the first one, I respond seriously and explained exactly what I meant, but when I realized that this is a directed matter and dozens are sending a message written by one person, it made me laugh and I preferred to ignore."


As to the threat of prosecution in which a group of Haredim are weighing to file against him, he says: "Let them file the claim, but they should bring with them to the court a list of doctors who are Haredi and studied at Orthodox institutions and were educated there and became doctors."

'בחדרי' גם ברשתות החברתיות - הצטרפו!