MK Pindrus Apologizes For ‘Shiksa’ Statement, But Clarifies His Concern Over IDF Conversions

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — MK Yitzchak Pindrus (UTJ) apologized for using the pejorative term ‘shiksa’ to describe IDF converts, many of whom are children of a Jewish father and gentile mother, but he still insisted that IDF conversions can present real problems for Israel’s future.

Pindrus told Mako that “the word ‘shiksa’ was inappropriate and out of place. If I would want to curse someone, I should have looked elsewhere and not at a soldier serving in the IDF.

“Religion is not personally mine, or personal to a soldier. As it is, even a non-Jewish soldier who does not convert at all – I appreciate and value him, and think that he is giving to Israel sometimes even much more than a Jew from birth who does not give to Israel. At the end of the day, the category of Jew is a religious categorization, and need not be determined by the courts or by the Chief of Staff, but only by halacha. Somebody who undergoes conversion without the approval of the Chief Rabbinate is not considered a Jew – there is nothing to do about it, and it is not dependent on me.

“There is no doubt that anyone who undergoes a halachic conversion, also through the IDF conversion system, is a convert. I apologize to those who went through halachic conversions and were hurt by what I said – – I think it was not correct. I speak from pain – the pain that there are children in the IDF who meet a nice young lady and think she is Jewish, and are not aware of the national tragedy they are bringing upon their families and on themselves.

“Judaism is a religion, not a political game. Neither the Supreme Court nor the political party of United Torah Judaism are able to define what is a Jew. There is an intrinsic problem when you mix law and democracy with religion. It is oil and water, and that is why we run away from religious legislation, it is oil and water. To introduce a religious law is something that has no chance for success, we only do it when the Supreme Court puts a gun to our head. Therefore UTJ will demand of whatever government is formed to legislate the law to bypass the courts. At the end of the day, we are concerned about every religious law that comes to a vote, even today.”

Pindrus’s clarification still reveals his concern that many of those converting in the army do not truly wish to accept upon themselves to practice Judaism but simply wish to be called Jewish like other Israelis. Kann Israeli television’s European correspondent Antonia Yamin could serve as an example of this phenomenon, since after her insult at being labelled “Christian” on her ID card due to her non-Jewish mother, Yamin decided to undergo the conversion procedure while in the army but apparently had no intention of fulfilling the mitzvos after she finished.

Yamin spoke on Israeli radio about the procedure and also tweeted her shame at the Mikveh procedure and did not seem to be interested in maintaining what she had learned during the conversion process. Yet, like many Israelis in her position, she is married to a Jewish husband and her children are considered to be Jewish in Israel.