Livni faceless in ultra-Orthodox press

David Silverman/Getty Images Yesterday, my esteemed colleague Josh said a lot of world leaders may not learn much about Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin other than what she looks like. It turns out that ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel may not learn even that much. The ultra-Orthodox do not publish photos of women in their ...

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592335_080926_livni5.jpg

David Silverman/Getty Images

David Silverman/Getty Images

Yesterday, my esteemed colleague Josh said a lot of world leaders may not learn much about Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin other than what she looks like. It turns out that ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel may not learn even that much.

The ultra-Orthodox do not publish photos of women in their newspapers due to concerns about feminine modesty. And newspapers are a prime source of information for them because they generally don’t tune into television, the Internet, and most radio stations.

The prohibition on women’s photos is posing a challenge for Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Reuters reports. In the wake of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s resignation, she has been asked to form a governing coalition. Securing support from the ultra-Orthodox could be tough if she remains faceless to them.

If Livni wants to reach out to the ultra-Orthodox, it looks like she’ll have to meet with leaders face to face.

Preeti Aroon was copy chief at Foreign Policy from 2009 to 2016 and was an FP assistant editor from 2007 to 2009. Twitter: @pjaroonFP

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