While the Israeli public is pretty much in agreement about the need for a haredi draft, from across the civilian board, the attempt to pass the “Rabbi Law” this week stands as a plain senseless power grab that shows just how disconnected this government is from the actual needs of the Israeli public.
And eight months into the war, this characteristic has not improved. This coalition needs to sort out its priorities – and fast.
The Knesset was supposed to hold initial committee votes on the Rabbi Law on Tuesday but pushed it off at the last minute. This did not stop the sentiments of anger and frustration from blowing in, as they have since the law was announced.
Knesset Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee chairman Simcha Rothman (Religious Zionist Party) said he would only hold a vote if “agreements are reached.”
However, all of the opposition MKs on the committee and at least three of the coalition’s MKs said they would vote against the law, meaning that if a vote had been held, it would not have passed. A move on Tuesday to swap out two of the MKs who said they wouldn’t vote it through emphasizes the tenacity behind the law.
The proposal is to give the Chief Rabbinate and the Religious Services Ministry control over appointments of government-paid municipal and neighborhood rabbis, instead of the current system where the cities themselves have the power to appoint their rabbis.
Bill seen as an attempt to gain power and influence over matters of religion and state
The bill is widely viewed as an attempt by the coalition’s haredi parties, especially Shas, to appoint its members to the position, as well as gain influence over issues of religion and state even in secular areas.
Meanwhile, the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee began debates on Tuesday on the highly charged political and social issue of haredi integration into the IDF, with the draft bill already in the works. Debates on it will take place over the next few weeks.
At a meeting at the Knesset State Control Committee on Monday, Yesh Atid MK Yoran Levi summed it up perfectly in a charged cry: “We can’t pay for social workers, psychiatrists, and psychologists. Even if you open up 100 to 250 new positions, there is no manpower.”
“I am going to break polite conduct,” he said. “Ultimately, this is a political house. The Rabbi Law is slated for debate today.” (The meeting took place before Rothman made his announcement).
“If the prime minister can approve 1,000 new rabbis, and not 1,000 psychologists, then this place is a piece of trash,” Levi said. “This is where the coalition’s priorities are.”
To applause from some in the room, he said: “Enough. Let’s talk numbers. People are committing suicide. How much more of this garbage can we take? Where are the psychiatrists? Where are the psychologists? Three thousand injured people need one doctor? Anyone who believes in a G-d cannot in good faith vote for this law. Divert that money for this cause. People are dying on the inside, and we are sitting here with pre-written texts, ready for the cameras, ready for the Facebook likes. This government must change its priorities.”
The committee met to discuss reforms to the Defense Ministry in its treatment of IDF veterans, addressing a special report. “It cannot be that service is being extended for reservists,” Levi said. “That is even more post-traumatic people than we already have now,” he added.
Levi then told the committee about his swimming instructor who stopped coming to teach, saying he doesn’t see the color blue in the pool anymore.
“We have people whose hearts are dying,” he said. “Enough.”
Why the law was pushed now, whether it was to offset the debates on the draft bill, is simply what it appears to be: a power grab for more central government control, a test of influence by Shas chairman Arye Deri, or a ploy to create more jobs when, as Levi pointed out, the money is sorely needed elsewhere. The law is shameful, disconnected, and completely insensitive in these times.
The government needs to look well in front of a mirror and see what it is causing the people: more frustration, anger, and resentment during one of the already most intense times in Israel’s history. The law needs to be dropped – and fast. This elected body must do better.