Racism Scandal in Chareidi Seminar System: Watchdog Group Demands Action from Attorney General
The Movement for Quality Government has called on Israeli Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara to open disciplinary proceedings against Chaya Mashan, the senior official overseeing post-primary chareidi girls’ education in the Yerushalayim municipality, following the exposure of documents containing racist and degrading classifications of students.
In a letter sent today to the attorney general, the organization demanded an immediate investigation into Mashan’s reinstatement as coordinator of upper-secondary education for Yerushalayim’s Education Department, a role that includes responsibility for placement in the city’s chareidi seminaries.
“The subject of this request is the recent publication announcing the return of Ms. Chaya Mashan to her position as coordinator of upper-secondary education in the Yerushalayim municipality,” the group wrote.
The watchdog noted that in July 2024, Haaretz revealed Excel documents from the municipality that included detailed—and unauthorized—notations about students: parents’ marital status, the girl’s physical appearance, disabilities, health conditions of both the student and her family, and even the family’s connections to influential figures within the chareidi community.
Last Thursday, journalist Yoeli Brim exposed additional documents stored on municipal servers that used racial and humiliating labels such as: “kushim,” “large and fat,” “short mother and father,” “heavy Sephardi,” and “complex home, baalei teshuva, unmarried sisters.”
The municipality issued a response at the time, saying: “A clarifying conversation was held with the employee by the head of the department. During the meeting, procedures were reviewed in depth, and the employee was made aware of her mistake. Significant changes were also made in the department’s workflow. The spreadsheet in question, which was prepared in the past, was created privately and without the knowledge of her supervisors.”
In its letter, the Movement for Quality Government stressed that “given the severity of the findings and the sensitive position held by Ms. Chaya Mashan—who is responsible for the placement of thousands of girls into post-primary institutions—there is a heightened obligation to immediately open disciplinary proceedings under the Civil Service Disciplinary Law and fully investigate all circumstances of the affair, including the extent of her personal responsibility for the failures uncovered.”
The group also noted that “although the affair was exposed already in July 2024, the municipality’s stance—according to which Ms. Mashan should be returned to her position—raises questions about the authority’s willingness to conduct a thorough review of the failures, learn lessons, and act accordingly.”
The organization requested that the attorney general act under Section 11 of the Civil Service Disciplinary Law and file a formal complaint with the disciplinary court.
{Matzav.com}
