הישראלי לדמוקרטיה- מרץ 2017
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
VIEWPOINT YEDIDIA STERN<br />
A threat to the foundations<br />
of Jewish peoplehood<br />
Leaving issues of religion and state to an ultra-Orthodox monopoly is leading to<br />
estrangement between Israel and the Diaspora. New arrangements must be reached<br />
ISRAEL IS defined by law as a “Jewish and democratic state.”<br />
However, many Israelis disagree about the meaning of each of these<br />
terms and how to synthesize them. And this disagreement likewise<br />
percolates deeply into the very foundations of the partnership between<br />
Israel and a large segment of Diaspora Jewry.<br />
What is the nature of this disagreement? How should it be addressed?<br />
The relationship between religion and state has been in fullfledged<br />
crisis mode for decades.<br />
As per the status quo, decisions on key religious issues are implemented<br />
with an ultra-Orthodox worldview through the Chief<br />
Rabbinate and Israeli politics. Specifically, this haredi monopoly<br />
applies to issues such as the definition of Jewish identity (who is<br />
a Jew?); avenues of joining the Jewish people (how does one convert?);<br />
personal status (marriage and divorce); the nature of Israel’s<br />
public spaces (the Sabbath); status of women in various contexts;<br />
funding of religious services; and kashrut.<br />
Although these arrangements are enforced only in Israel, they have<br />
had a negative impact on the country’s relationship with Diaspora Jewry,<br />
where the Orthodox are only a minority. For many Jews outside of<br />
Israel, a non-Orthodox religious community is a defining feature of<br />
Jewish identity. Yet Israel treats such non-Orthodox streams unfairly.<br />
The state does not recognize the religious validity of their activities<br />
in important fields, such as conversion, and it discriminates against<br />
them in various domains, including prayer at the Western Wall.<br />
Members of non-Orthodox religious communities are regularly<br />
subjected to insulting statements by Israeli public figures – representatives<br />
of the haredi community, among many others.<br />
The harmful result is a growing estrangement between the sons<br />
and daughters of the Jewish people in Israel and the Diaspora. Religion,<br />
which should be an element that deepens Jewish identity and<br />
the meaning of living a Jewish life, has become a centrifugal force,<br />
distancing Jews from each other.<br />
For years, the Israel Democracy Institute, along with other Israeli<br />
institutions, has worked to devise balanced solutions to each of the<br />
main issues of this disagreement. It is our belief that these solutions<br />
would be acceptable to the majority of Jews in Israel, if presented to<br />
them directly and free of political pressures. However, the secular<br />
ruling parties, which rotate in and out of office, have almost totally<br />
avoided making changes to the regulations that govern issues of<br />
religion and state.<br />
Why do Israeli politics give in to haredi preferences?<br />
The main reason is that the Israeli public is not sufficiently engaged<br />
in the matter to feel a need to take responsibility for issues<br />
of religion and state. The Israeli agenda is overloaded with other<br />
challenges—security, foreign policy and socioeconomic.<br />
On the other hand, the haredi parties, which represent only about<br />
10 percent of Israeli society, use all their political power to implement<br />
their preferences regarding religion and state issues. These<br />
matters are at the top of their agenda, and they are willing to join<br />
any government, right- or left-wing, that is willing to maintain existing<br />
arrangements in this domain.<br />
Thus, it has become a foregone conclusion that a party that wants<br />
to form a government must bow to haredi demands on issues of<br />
religion and state.<br />
THE SOLUTION can come only from a significant change in Israeli<br />
public opinion. The general public will not join the struggle until<br />
it understands that the current arrangement does not affect only<br />
people who require specific religious services, and certain minorities,<br />
such as immigrants from the former Soviet Union and Reform<br />
Jews. The Israeli public must understand that religion and state issues<br />
have a bearing on the very meaning of Judaism in our generation<br />
and on the character of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state.<br />
Israelis must be made aware that surrendering to the haredi minority’s<br />
demands is fraying the threads of unity that bind Jews in<br />
Israel and the Diaspora, thus deteriorating Diaspora Jewry’s commitment<br />
to the State of Israel and Zionism, and weakening Jewish<br />
identity among Jews in Israel and abroad.<br />
So dire are the circumstances that what appears to be little more than<br />
homegrown coalition compromises on issues such as the Western Wall<br />
or funding of non-Orthodox streams, are in fact a threat to the foundations<br />
of the common peoplehood of Jews in Israel and the Diaspora.<br />
This is not a call to oppose the haredim; their views are valuable<br />
and important. However, it is necessary to adopt arrangements that<br />
respectfully balance different worldviews. Appropriate solutions<br />
must maintain the official place of religion in Israel, while respecting<br />
the democratic values that are an integral part of the identity of<br />
both Israel and Jews of the Diaspora.<br />
The public campaign for such changes must be strong enough to<br />
force Israeli politics to react. And it must dispel ignorance.<br />
Repair is required, and without delay. <br />
■<br />
Prof. Yedidia Stern is vice president of research at the Israel<br />
Democracy Institute.<br />
18 DEMOCRACY 3.0 APRIL <strong>2017</strong>