A special commission or inquiry appointed by the Israel Cabinet to study education among Orthodox children in the immigrant camps, a situation which several months ago presented the coalition government with its first major crisis, today published a 131-page report of its findings.
The report, which was completed May 9 after the members of the commission heard 101 witnesses at 33 sessions, clears the government of coercion in forcing Yemenite youths to have their sideburns shorn. The report says that a “mistake was made” in handing over the education of immigrant children, especially those from Yemen and North Africa, to an “incompetent” Jewish Agency staff.
Although Nahum Lewin, director of the Agency cultural department, who was responsible for the education program in the camps, was cleared of charges of “inquisitorial action and destruction of culture,” he was held responsible for a “serious deficiency in religious education” in the camps. It was learned last week that Mr. Lewin had resigned his post.
The commission also stated that it did not consider messages sent abroad by the Religious Bloc, at the time of the Cabinet crisis, prior to the formation of the commission, to have been prompted by anti-government intentions.
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