Shneur Odze

Shneur Zalman Odze (born 3 March 1981) is an Orthodox Jewish rabbi and UK Independence Party (UKIP) politician who was the UKIP candidate in the Greater Manchester mayoral election, 2017. He is a rabbi in Salford.[1] He got 10,583 votes in the Mayoral election, 1.87% of the vote, coming sixth.[2]

Odze was a Conservative councillor for New River ward of Hackney from 2002[3] until he resigned in 2004. He was a Conservative candidate in the Bury Metropolitan Borough Council election in 2004 and 2006 and then in the Salford City Council election, 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2012 but stood for UKIP in the Salford City Council election, 2014.

He was a UKIP candidate for the North West England in the European Election 2014. During the campaign, he declined to shake hands with female voters due to his religious beliefs, which prohibit physical contact with any woman other than his wife. One of the party's regional organisers resigned in protest.[4] Odze was fourth on the UKIP party list; three were elected.

In 2014 he joined with other Israelis to travel to Bradford in protest after George Galloway declared the city an "Israel-free zone".[5]

Odze was unsuccessful in his bid for the UKIP nomination for London mayoral election, 2016. At the time he declared that he was "a Londoner born, bred, and schooled". He was an elected public governor of the University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust.

Odze helped to set up the "Friends of Israel in UKIP", the logo of which featured a pound sign in the centre of a star of David. When it was pointed out that linking Jews and money had unfortunate connotations, Odze said this was more oversight than conspiracy.[6] He condemned the party's policy against religious slaughter as "wrong", and vowed to work to overturn it.[7] He is said to be a close confidant of Nigel Farage and Paul Nuttall.[8]

In 2017 he burned a Hebrew-English Bible, published by the Society for Distributing Hebrew Scriptures, which had been placed in a synagogue without permission on the eve of Passover.[9] Odze initially denied on social media that this event had taken place. He subsequently apologised following a Daily Mail article showing a Twitter post he had made which included a photograph of the book on fire.[10] At a Manchester hustings he was criticised by Jane Brophy, the Liberal Democrat candidate because he refused to shake her hand. She said he should treat women and men equally.[11]

Personal life

Odze's mother comes from Morocco, and his grandfather from Poland.[12] He was brought up in Hackney, and has an Israeli passport. He is married, with four daughters.[13]

References

  1. ↑ "From the council house Tory to the Orthodox Jewish Ukip fan - there's nothing boring about the candidates to be Greater Manchester mayor". Manchester Evening News. 24 April 2017. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  2. ↑ "Who is the new Mayor of Greater Manchester? Live mayoral election results". Manchester Evening News. 5 May 2017. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  3. ↑ "London Borough Council Elections 2002" (PDF). Retrieved 2 May 2017.
  4. ↑ "Uproar over Jewish Candidate's Refusal to Shake Hands with Women". Jewish Press. 18 February 2014. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  5. ↑ "Israeli Tourists Visit Bradford To Troll George Galloway". Huffington Post. 11 August 2014. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  6. ↑ "UKIP Friends of Israel apologises over 'insensitive' logo". Jewish News. 3 December 2014. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  7. ↑ "Jewish UKIP supporters vow to overturn shechita ruling". Jewish News. 4 February 2015. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  8. ↑ "Shneur Odze, the Orthodox Jewish candidate who wants to be Ukip's first Manchester mayor". City Metric. 5 April 2017. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  9. ↑ "UK rabbi-politician burns Christian Bible, sparking ire". Times of Israel. 16 April 2017. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  10. ↑ "Orthodox Jewish mayoral candidate in Britain apologizes for burning New Testament". Jewish Telegraph Agency. 16 April 2017. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  11. ↑ "Strictly Orthodox Ukip candidate 'should not run for office' say critics". Jewish Chronicle. 28 February 2017. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
  12. ↑ "Left-wing protesters scream at Jewish man 'go home' outside Ukip Stoke by-election rally". Sunday Express. 7 February 2017. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  13. ↑ "Rabbinical UKIP candidate making headlines for wrong reasons". Times of Israel. 1 May 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
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