Public disgust with the bond between relgion and state will affect the elections

The storm is rising

It seems that matters of ethics and the moral, appropriate behavior of Israel’s political leadership (in which the ancient prophets of Israel showed great interest), don't interest the Haredi parties, nor require taking a stand from the perspective of the leaders of parties that claim to represent authentic Judaism.

Uri Regev 15/02/2018 21:52

Tags: Eliezer Mozes ·  Yitzhak Yosef ·  Reform Judaism ·  United Torah Judaism ·  elections ·  Peace Index

Women reading Torah at Southern Kotel, source: Wikipedia

After long anticipation, the police announced the conclusion of their investigation this week in two of four cases involving PM Netanyahu that are being investigated in parallel. According to the police there is enough evidence to charge Netanyahu and others involved in these cases, and the ball is in the AG's court. Not surprisingly, political and public reactions tended to be divided by the respondents' political identities and were very predictable.

As a matter of principle, Hiddush does not deal with politics in general, but only with the clash of religion and state. Of course, we were not surprised to see that among those who uncritically support the Prime Minister are the leaders of the Haredi political parties. After all, they have already clarified in the past that their participation in the political enterprise is aimed at advancing their sectarian and religious interests, and they have no problem supporting policies in which they have no interest (such as security, settlements, international relations, economics, etc.), when requested by their senior political partners.

It seems that matters of ethics and the moral, appropriate behavior of Israel’s political leadership (in which the ancient prophets of Israel showed great interest), don't interest the Haredi parties, nor require taking a stand from the perspective of the leaders of parties that claim to represent authentic Judaism.

MK Mozes (UTJ) launched a tirade against Reform Jews, calling them clowns, and saying "go hold bar mitzvahs for dogs."

It is also difficult to be surprised by the vile and inflammatory style of the leaders of these parties when they speak about the major stream of world Jewry, and we have stopped expecting (per the above explanation) that the Prime Minister and his people will seriously put them in their place. This week at the Tuesday Knesset hearing on the prayer arrangements at the Kotel, MK Mozes (UTJ) launched a tirade against Reform Jews, calling them clowns, and saying "go hold bar mitzvahs for dogs." Also this week, Chief Rabbi Yosef proclaimed that it is prohibited to include individuals who desecrate the Sabbath in public in a minyan (prayer quorum). These examples, the ongoing Shabbat battles, and many more incidents build up a growing disgust among the public toward the ongoing bond between religion and politics. We could see it this month in the monthly "Peace Index", showing that 52.1% of Israelis oppose including the ultra-Orthodox parties in the government coalition.

As you may read HERE, the public opposes every aspect of the governmental policy on matters of religion and state. The opposition constantly grows, and it will undoubtedly also impact the outcome of the next elections - and possibly the make-up of the next government. When will these elections take place? When will the next government be put together? To that we have no answer, but it is clear that the time is nearing, and at the latest, it will take place next year.

Analysts are competing in drawing potential scenarios as to the way that the current political storm will unfold. What is clear is that it is incumbent upon us to gear up for that time, either via public advocacy in Israel and among world Jewish leadership, or through legal and media work. This is what we do at Hiddush, and as you may read HERE, we congratulate ourselves for a successful resolution of Hiddush's initiative to force on the Knesset and the government to implement the law that was meant to give teeth to the authorities in confronting the mass evasion of IDF service by young women who submit fraudulent affidavits claiming to pursue religious lifestyles. This is what we've done in the past, and this is what we'll continue doing in the coming months. We hope we can count on your support.