DistantNews
Support us
🇮🇱 Israel /Elections & Politics

Israel’s unholy alliance between religion and politics must end

From Jerusalem Post · () English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

Opinion Sources not specified Context piece
  • Ultra-Orthodox leaders are threatening to collapse the Israeli government over a failure to pass draft-exemption legislation for yeshiva students.
  • The ultra-Orthodox world views Torah study as a higher form of national service, leading to over 100,000 men evading military draft while others fight on multiple fronts.
  • The government's close collaboration with ultra-Orthodox parties has led to increased religious coercion, harm to gender equality, and neglect of secular education in ultra-Orthodox schools, alongside significant state subsidies.

The Israeli government faces a potential collapse over its failure to pass draft-exemption legislation for ultra-Orthodox Jewish men. Rabbi Dov Lando, a prominent figure in the Ashkenazi Haredi world, declared it's time to bring down the government because it hasn't delivered the promised law.

This demand comes amid wartime, with over 100,000 ultra-Orthodox men evading military service while their non-Haredi peers fight on multiple fronts. The Haredi community believes immersion in Torah study is paramount for Israel's security and constitutes a higher form of national service.

The article criticizes the close collaboration between the Likud party and its ultra-Orthodox and far-right coalition partners. This partnership has led to the imposition of Orthodox control over marriage, divorce, conversion, kashrut, and burial. It also expands the authority of rabbinical courts and the Chief Rabbinate, resulting in religious coercion and harm to gender equality.

Even if Netanyahu tells me that one plus one equals two, I won’t believe him.

— Rabbi Dov LandoA preeminent figure of the Ashkenazi haredi yeshiva world, Rabbi Dov Lando, expressed his distrust in the current government.

Furthermore, the piece highlights the systematic neglect of hundreds of thousands of children in ultra-Orthodox schools that do not teach essential subjects like mathematics, English, or civic literacy. These children are reportedly being prepared for a life of dependence rather than contribution.

Financial figures reveal substantial state subsidies to the ultra-Orthodox sector, estimated at NIS 35 to 37 billion for 2025 alone. This spending occurs while non-Haredi Jewish families in middle socioeconomic brackets pay significantly more in net taxes.

A wartime government is being threatened with collapse – not over the failure to influence the Iranian-US deal, not over the economy, or any of the genuine crises consuming the country since October 7 – but because it has not (yet) delivered a law designed to keep over 100,000 young men out of uniform while their non-haredi peers are fighting on multiple fronts.

— Uri RegevThe author highlights the specific reason for the government's threatened collapse, emphasizing the draft-exemption issue amidst ongoing conflict.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Jerusalem Post in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

More Stories

From Our Blog