Livni faceless in ultra-Orthodox press

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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The ultra-Orthodox do not publish photos of women in their newspapers due to concerns about feminine modesty.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.