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Haredim: an unsustainable population? By Sarah Spickernell
“The country’s demographics look bad — too many ultra-Orthodox Jews, Palestinians and Israeli Arabs and not enough secular Jews” declared veteran Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiator Aaron David Miller in the New York Times. His expressed concern for Israel can be attributed largely to the detrimental effect that the growing Haredim population is having on the country’s economy. The roots of this ultra-Orthodox Jewish population are believed to extend directly back to Moses and the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai, and as such they have been exempt from Israel’s standard period of military service since 1948, so that they can pursue their religious studies uninterruptedly. For this same reason the government financially supports the Haredi population where other Israelis are expected to work. With 50% of Haredi now living below the poverty line and receiving state allowances, they are putting immense strain on the government’s resources.
Residing in isolated communities where they are educated under a unique system called Yeshiva, Haredi students focus on the study of religious texts to the exclusion of science, mathematics and English: three subjects which are invaluable for employment opportunities. With very few alternatives existing for them, the door appears to be closed to those not wishing to follow this conventional route. To complicate matters, their population is now the fastest growing in Israel along with that of the Arabs. According to the think-tank Taub Centre, by 2040 78% of Israeli school children will be attending Haredi or Arab schools.
Haredi rabbis tend to encourage segregation from the rest of the population, admonishing the consumption of main-stream media. As their population grows, the Haredi are becoming increasingly vocal in their reproach of the modernisms adopted by secular Israelis. Street signs have been erected which promote separation of the sexes on sidewalks, and there have been reports of women being shouted at on the street who do not conform to their expectations of modest clothing. The wider range of opportunities experienced by their non-Haredi contemporaries have not gone unnoticed, however. Coupled with an intensifying need to bring themselves and their families out of poverty, this has resulted in more and more young Haredi people desiring integration with secular society. Some are voluntarily enrolling in military service battalions that work to ensure Haredi recruits do not compromise their religious lives, while others are forming politically active groups such as The Haredi Tov movement, which advocates the union of Torah study, secular education and military service.
As promising as these advances might be, a noticeable development must come from within the government. Indeed, most of its members are in favour of drafting Haredi into military service, which will offer them better employment prospects and expose them to the secular lifestyle. The Trajitenberg Committee, which is in charge of drafting proposals for economic and social change, has called for a number of additional transformations to be made beyond military service. These include the creation of more employment centres aimed at Haredi, and the introduction of more college courses which operate after Yeshiva hours. Earlier this year it was announced by The Council for Higher Education that NIS 180 million would be invested in Haredim education over the next five years.
The situation is not as easily rectifiable as it might seem, however. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu intends to submit a bill to the cabinet which would result in Haredi men aged 26 and over joining the military service or doing civilian service for a period of time. Many members Haredi community feel that it is their right to pursue Yeshiva, and prominent Haredi members within Natayhanu’s government oppose the bill. Whether the bill will pass or not is not the only issue, either: most Haredi men are married with children by the time they reach 26, meaning that the government would have to pay them substantial salaries to take part in military service.
By refusing to support a proposal which would have limited the number of Yeshiva students exempted from taking part in military service to 1,500 per year, Netanyahu drove the Kadima, a centrist party aspiring for integration, to walk out of his government. If he is to stabilise his country’s economy, Netanyahu may find that he needs to adopt a more ruthless approach when encouraging the Haredi to integrate with the rest of society.
The post Haredim: an unsustainable population? By Sarah Spickernell appeared first on Middle East Post.
2012-10-29 00:32:41
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