Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai stirred up a storm online after he said on Nadav Perry’s podcast that anyone who is religious is opposed to democracy. Perry: “You’re saying something harsh that I don’t accept. Are you saying that anyone who believes in a supreme being cannot accept democracy in the same breath?” Huldai replied without hesitation: “No. Because if you believe in Him, it means He is supreme. It can’t be that the Supreme Court will decide against what is written and what you believe in. Therefore, religion, by its very nature, is anti-democratic.” “Those who are religious go to the Rav for everything. It’s already determined and written and the Rav tells you if something is according to Halacha or not. If Halacha is the law – then we are Iran,” Huldai added. Channel 14 journalist Yinon Magal responded to Huldai’s remarks by stating: “Ron Huldai is so anachronistic that he still lives in a world where a religious soldier was asked if he’ll listen to his commander or his Rav. As if we haven’t been through the show of refusal of all those who ‘listened to their conscience’ and announced that they ‘will stop volunteering for the IDF, because they are ‘loyal to the kingdom and not the king,’  and object to the public influencing the identity of the judges through their elected representatives in the Knesset (like everywhere else in the world).” “And he is so ignorant because he has no idea what it is to be a religious person and he has no idea what democracy is. For him, democracy is when his values ​​rule – even if it means that the minority rules over the majority. In short, another ‘enlightened’ dinosaur,” Magal concluded. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)