Thursday, June 10, 2021

The real reason Charedi leaders turned against Bennett

 

by Yifat Erlich




If the verbal lashing Haredi politicians gave Yamina leader Naftali Bennett Tuesday teaches us anything, is that they are afraid. Very, very afraid.

It is not, however, the inception of a Center-Left government that is troubling them, nor are they bemoaning the apparent end of the Netanyahu era. They are worried about one thing: being cut off from the state's coffers.

The last 45 years have seen the ultra-Orthodox parties man the benches of the opposition only twice: the first from 1074-1977 and the second from 2012-2015. Those anomalies aside, the Haredim have made sure to maintain a tight grip on their place in the coalition, and an even tighter grip on their seats in the powerful Knesset Finance Committee, which they have transitionally chaired.

However, they have never used their political clout to help the Israeli public as a whole. All they every cared about was their own sector. That narrow vision has only increased the maladies plaguing Haredi society, which failed to use the massive state budgets diverted to it to become a productive sector, becoming, for the most part, dependent on the state.

I'm an ardent supporter of the world of Torah and I'm all for making it as great as possible. But few are those who can dedicate their lives to these studies, and rather than cultivating these chosen few, the ultra-Orthodox sector has fostered generations of mediocre youth, who are both unable to delve into their studies nor are they able to make an honest living.

Moreover, the Haredi leadership's narrow views have prevented any attempt to resolve the conversions crisis. Other issues – anything that didn't serve solely their constituents – have fallen by the wayside as well.

This narrow view is the biggest sacrilege of all.

On Tuesday, Shas and United Torah Judaism leaders launched a ferocious attack on Bennett, denouncing him as "evil" and even going as far as demanding he removes his kippah.

Why are they so furious with the future prime minister? Because Bennett represents a different type of religiosity – one that has deliberately disengaged from the sector; one that is infused with reverence for God and love for the Torah but also has a broad vision and concern for Israeli society as a whole, and one that embodies productivity and responsibility.

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4 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Chareidi leaders are most scared of an investigation in the Meron disaster.
This will open a can of worms,
Everyone will blame everyone and a lot of skeletons will tumble out of the closets.

Ma Rabbi said...

She is obviously a Bennet supporter.
The reason this new Govt is so dangerous is that it gives power to the leftists and the Arabs. I hope and pray it falls flat on its face before
it even gets started.

Anonymous said...

why don't you hope and pray all goes well for the chareidim and klal Yisroel?? For shame!!

Unknown said...

It will open the opportunities for the smart chareidim to go into the high tech industry, about time.
They should stop taking chareidim to the army, they are more productive in jobs.
stop drafting women to to the army.