Ultra-Orthodox histrionics over religion, state may backfire - analysis
Both ultra-Orthodox parties have denounced the government as “treif," have accused Bennett of being “a con artist” and repeatedly denounced the government for "destroying Judaism."
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UNITED TORAH FRAUD JUDAISM MAFIA Party MK Ya’acov Litzman
(left), UTJ MK Moshe Gafni and Shas head Arye Deri converse during a
meeting at the Knesset earlier this month. |
“This is a black day for the state and the government… The
State of Israel has lost the right to call itself a Jewish and
democratic state,” said United Torah Judaism leader MK Moshe Gafni.
“The ultra-Orthodox public will not forget or forgive the prime minister and his partners,” he added.
These
words were uttered not in August 2021 but in March 2014. And they were
said not in reference to Prime Minister Naftali Bennett but rather
regarding then-prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The
36th government of Israel was sworn into office this June amid a
bitter, rancorous political atmosphere that has gotten ever sharper and
acrimonious.
The
parties and MKs of the opposition are apparently in competition as to
who can summon up the most splenetic accusations against the current
coalition – and it is hard to say who is winning.
But the ultra-Orthodox MKs are certainly giving it all they have.
Gafni, in his enmity towards the current government, denounced Bennett as no less than a murderer over his handling of the latest COVID-19 outbreak, although he later retracted the remark.
The
UTJ chairman has also labeled Religious Services Minister Matan Kahana
“Antiochus,” the Seleucid Greek ancient enemy of the Jews in the time of
the Hasmoneans who sought to eradicate Jewish practice.
On
Monday afternoon, Gafni denounced Bennett as “destroying Judaism” while
being ejected from the Knesset plenum for unruly behavior during the
prime minister’s speech, while Shas chairman MK Arye Deri exploded with
anger during the same speech and repeatedly called Bennett a liar.
Both
ultra-Orthodox parties have denounced the government as “treif” –
meaning non-kosher but with a sharper meaning of “impure” – have accused
Bennett of being “a con artist” and repeatedly denounced the government
for “destroying Judaism.”
SO WHAT explains this extraordinary outpouring of venom toward the prime minister and the government?
The
reality is that much of the righteous anger expressed by the
ultra-Orthodox MKs is mere theater, curated for their constituents and
designed to inculcate how vital the haredi parties are to the well being
of the haredi community.
Denouncing
proposed kashrut reforms as “destroying Judaism” – as if Judaism only
flourished in the 73 years in which the Chief Rabbinate of the State of
Israel had a monopoly over kashrut licensing – is merely a way of
ginning up the ultra-Orthodox street and creating the impression that
the Jewish religion is under attack.
The
budget cuts to the ultra-Orthodox sector, especially the cuts to child
daycare subsidies for families in which the father studies full time in
yeshiva, are actually a boon to UTJ and Shas and allows them to denounce
the government as undermining Torah study and Judaism and seeking to
destroy the haredi community.
The
ferocious outbursts of Shas and UTJ in the opposition today serve the
same purposes as the similar outbursts seven years ago in the face of
government legislation to increase haredi enlistment: to make the
ultra-Orthodox community feel under attack so as to impress upon it the
importance of voting for the haredi parties as the protectors of their
rights and budgets when the next elections come around.
When
the government first took office, it was thought that there was a
possibility to eventually bring the ultra-Orthodox parties in to
stabilize the coalition, but the likelihood of such an outcome appears
to be especially distant at present, with every vitriolic outburst from
Gafni and Co. making it seemingly ever more unlikely.
Bennett
himself has begun pushing back harder against the Gafni and Deri’s
attacks, accusing Shas and UTJ on Monday afternoon of protecting a
corrupt and mismanaged kashrut system and rejecting their scolding over
the state of Judaism in the country.
“No
one holds a monopoly over Jewish traditions: not on Judaism, not on
nationalism,” Bennett said, reprimanding the haredi MKs. “No one will
preach to me or anyone else what loving other Jews means. We all love
the Jewish people, we all love our country.”
IF
THE RHETORICAL battle between the prime minister, his government and
the ultra-Orthodox parties continues its current level of intensity, it
would appear hard for either to row back the situation, especially for
Shas and UTJ.
How
would it be possible for Gafni and Deri to now sit in a government they
have attacked as undermining and destroying the Jewish religion in the
Jewish state?
This state of affairs could in fact lead to an even greater schism between the two sides.
If
it seems impossible to ever bring the haredi parties into the coalition
to stabilize it, why bother trying to accommodate them when it comes to
dealing with the sensitive issues they care about?
If they cannot be reasonable about kashrut reform, why bother being sensitive about implementing the Western Wall agreement?
If
bringing in term limits for municipal chief rabbis – who would
otherwise serve for decades on end with no accountability – is denounced
as destroying Judaism, why worry about moderating reforms for the
conversion system?
If
Bennett’s government is going to be compared to the destructive enemies
of the Jewish people, why worry about finding solutions for Israeli
citizens who cannot get married in the State of Israel?
The
dramatic and theatrical denunciations of the ultra-Orthodox parties
will no doubt play well with their voter base and make the community
well motivated for the next elections, whenever that might be.
But
at the same time, it could provide Bennett, a known liberal and
religious moderate, with the excuse and opportunity to enact more
far-reaching changes to Israel’s religion and state model than he might
have otherwise decided to make.