A time-bomb is ticking in Israel and the government is not willing (or able) to do something about it. And, no, it is not a terrorist bomb or a Palestinian attack. Israel has a growing population of Ultra-orthodox Jews (Haredim) who do not have the means to take care of themselves and of their families, and who are totally dependent on government hand-outs.
The Israeli Ultra-Orthodox community is rapidly approaching one and a half million people, which is roughly 12% of the overall population, with Haredi women giving birth to an average of seven children. Only just over fifty percent of Haredi men are employed and their families live on stipends and child allowances, but often in poverty.
The large number of Haredim gives them political power in Israel and Haredi political parties have been in almost all Israeli governments, from both the right and the left, often in pivotal positions. This has resulted in demands by Ultra-Orthodox politicians for financial support which includes payment for being a student at one of the Yeshivas or Kollels.
Most Haredi youngsters, after finishing school, do not have many options for study or work, because the Haredi private schools do not prepare their children for life in the real world. Despite there being clear, unequivocal laws in Israel, that demand that in the school system also private schools need to adhere to the teaching of a basic curriculum that includes English, math , Hebrew and science, in order to receive State funding, the majority of the three hundred and fifty thousand school-age Haredi children are not being taught these topics and leave school without doing matriculation exams (less than 15% of the boys and 50 % of the girls) leaving them no opportunity for further education, except in the Yeshiva.
The State has always been very reluctant to enforce the law, mainly for fear of political consequences, and recently Binyamin Netanyahu, a contender in the approaching elections, even went a step further and promised that even when not teaching the core curriculum, when he returns to power, he will make sure the Haredi schools will receive full funding.
There are two aspects to this situation, both grave and worrisome. First, an ever increasing number of people will become dependent on the State for their survival, simply because they have no skills and no opportunities to become an active, contributing member of society, and their lack of education forces them to follow the rules of the Haredi community, go study Torah and bury themselves in their religion. Their leaders see this happening but are not willing to do something to improve the situation of their people because the current status is exactly what they want. Only someone who has no outlook on life, will remain in the community and give their leaders the political power that they strive for. And, while the rabbis will keep saying how important Torah study is, the lives of these people are reduced to their religious experience, which while maybe important, cannot possibly become the meaning of their lives.
The second worrisome aspect of course is the ever increasing number of Haredi people that the State is called upon to take care off. The Haredi population grows with four times the rate of the rest of the country and the number of people without education, without prospects, will grow at an alarming rate. The cost of this will quickly become prohibitive and with the political power that their numbers bring them, the Haredim will force the State to divert money from important national issues such as health, resulting in a further deterioration of services for the general population.
Less and less people will need to pay for more and more, and this, of course, has its limits. Not only will the State not be able to pay, but also the people whose taxes must enable this, will get fed up and simply leave.
Already it is estimated that approximately one million Israelis live abroad, no longer willing to put up with the enormous amounts of money that are being funneled to the Haredi population. And this of course in addition to being fed up with restrictions regarding the Sabbath, (from travel to shop openings), as well as other burdens put on the (secular) population by governments that are not able to withstand Haredi blackmail.
Let it be clear. Anybody is allowed to choose his own lifestyle, his own religion and place the limitations on his life as he sees fit. When the situation deteriorates to a level whereby a small group of Rabbis decides the fate of a whole section of the population and then uses their political power to make others pay for it, we have reached limits that need to be corrected.
Are the coming elections going to solve this problem and diffuse the time bomb before it explodes? Don’t count on it.
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