Why haredim should be zionists

No one tries to pretend it is otherwise. They pride themselves on not having a choice. To say that they choose to vote the way they do would undermine a fundamental principle of Haredi life.

But the ground is shifting. We know that just over , Israelis voted Tuesday for the Jewish supremacist "Religious Zionism" list. By the time we have the final count it will probably be over , There is, however, one silver lining in this dark storm cloud of hate.

They chose to do so of their own free will. When can it be possibly good that people chose hate? When a third of them are Haredim.

Nearly all of those votes went to the Religious Zionism party. Twelve percent of those who usually voted for Haredi parties broke ranks on Tuesday. Practically a generational shift. Sign in. Accessibility help Skip to navigation Skip to content Skip to footer. Choose your subscription. Trial Try full digital access and see why over 1 million readers subscribe to the FT. For 4 weeks receive unlimited Premium digital access to the FT's trusted, award-winning business news. Digital Be informed with the essential news and opinion.

Delivery to your home or office Monday to Saturday FT Weekend paper — a stimulating blend of news and lifestyle features ePaper access — the digital replica of the printed newspaper. Team or Enterprise Premium FT. But these pale before the secular-Haredi conflict for two reasons: it is a genuine kulturkampf and the Haredi community is growing at rates unmatched in the modern world.

Its tech sector sprouts world leaders in cybersecurity, nanotechnology, ad tech, biotech, autonomous vehicles, and more. It also punches way above its weight in scientific publications, Nobel prizes , and even exported television formats. It has been ahead of the global curve on certain issues such as gay rights , electing a female leader, and decriminalizing cannabis. Meanwhile, the Haredim live as a separate community where men are encouraged by rabbinical leaders to devote themselves to studying religious texts at yeshiva seminaries instead of working.

Generations are condemned to dependency because 60 percent of Haredi high schoolers go to institutions that, despite state funding, do not teach a core curriculum of math, science, and English. There is an expectation that the state will pay a lifelong stipend to any men who study the Torah, as at least , currently do. The stranglehold religious seminaries have on the Haredi men is maintained by a longstanding deal whereby the state absolves them of otherwise compulsory military conscription if they study the Torah a tiny minority that enlists anyway are widely shunned by the community.

Women are expected to bear and raise children, run the household, and work. They are not allowed to run for parliament for the Haredi political parties without whom the right-wing has never enjoyed a majority bar the arguable exception of These parties occupy themselves with securing state funding for the community and pushing for religious restrictions on the public life of all Israelis, such as preventing civil marriage and blocking commerce, work, and public transport on the Sabbath.

Many in the community oppose women singing in public and studies show that two-thirds want gender segregation in public transport. More noteworthy is that 90 percent want the Halakha Jewish law. This setup might survive somehow in the current demographic breakdown, but this is where the birthrate comes in. According to the Israel Democracy Institute, Haredi women starting around age 20 have 7. The Haredi population, now at around 12 percent , doubles itself every 16 years, four times the rate of the rest of the country.

Studies show perhaps 5 percent leave the Haredi lifestyle—not enough to change the projection that they will be a majority well before the century is out. Modern Israel cannot survive this—there will be no one to fund it—unless the Haredim fundamentally change their behavior and worldview, of which there are no signs.