Last Wednesday the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, approved the national budget for the period 2023-2024: the text received 64 votes in favor from the entire coalition that supports the right-wing government of Benjamin Netanyahu and 56 against, and was criticized by economists and opposition parties. The criticisms mainly concerned the coalition funds, an allocation of 13.7 billion shekels (3.4 billion euros) intended for ultra-Orthodox Jewish institutions. The schools that will receive them, the yeshivot, are independent of the Israeli Ministry of Education and many do not teach secular subjects, that is, all those subjects that do not concern the learning of sacred texts and subjects, such as mathematics, science and English.
The budget, in addition to increasing funds for these schools, provides for an increase in subsidies for ultra-Orthodox males who study full-time in religious seminaries, do not work and are exempt from military service, which is instead foreseen for the majority of Israeli citizens.
The ultra-Orthodox – called Haredim in Hebrew – are Israeli citizens who adhere to the most conservative doctrines of Judaism, following its strictest and most literal interpretations. Their life revolves around the community, prayer and the study of sacred texts: as children they enter religious schools which they continue to attend even as adults. Not working, they survive mostly on donations or government subsidies. The particular privileged status they enjoy dates back to the foundation of the state of Israel: the government of Ben Gurion (the first prime minister in the history of the country) believed that their contribution was fundamental for the formation of a national entity of a Jewish nature, and guaranteed them a series of concessions that have been maintained and extended over the years.
According to several economists, further investments in religious education by the government risk slowing down Israeli economic growth and creating problems in the short and long term for the country.
In fact, the type of training does not prepare students to enter the labor market and contribute to the Israeli economy. And if you consider the growth this community is experiencing, the risk that it will weigh even more on the Israeli economy is high. According to the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics, the Haredim currently represent 13% of the population (1.28 million people) and are the group that is growing the fastest among all: they are expected to reach 16% in 2030.
In a letter addressed to the government and signed by more than one hundred economists and academics – including Netanyahu’s former economic adviser, Eugene Kandel, and a group of former deputy governors of the Bank of Israel – we read: «The allocation of coalition is currently granted for short-term political considerations, but in the long run they will transform Israel from an advanced and prosperous country to a backward country in which large parts of the population will lack the basic skills for life in the 21st century. Centrist opposition leader Yair Lapid called this budget the most destructive in Israel’s history, “a breach of contract with Israeli citizens, which all of us – and our children and children’s children – will still pay,” he reportedly by the Reuters news agency.
Instead, Netanyahu said that the budget increase for ultra-Orthodox Jews will serve to compensate for the conditions of ultra-Orthodox children, whose schools have historically always received less funding from the government than those that admit non-religious teachings. But Netanyahu’s support for the measure also affects the stability of his government. In fact, the ultra-Orthodox parties are the second largest bloc in its majority coalition and their leaders had recently threatened to vote against the budget proposal if Netanyahu did not increase salaries and funding for their schools.
This crisis reflects a condition of deeper tension between the secular and religious components present within the country, due to the shift of the state towards greater religious fundamentalism in recent years.
The choices made so far by Netanyahu’s government are considered by a large part of the population to be a violation of the principle of equality because they are increasingly religious and authoritarian, as is the recent proposal to reform the judicial system. Presented by Justice Minister Yair Levin and suspended in March following numerous protests, critics say the revision would reduce the powers of the Supreme Court and the judicial system in favor of the government, putting democracy at risk. Instead, its supporters – the secular nationalist right-wing, far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties – argue that the reform serves to better balance the powers of the state, which in recent decades have excessively favored the judiciary.
The ultra-Orthodox, for example, accuse the Supreme Court of limiting their religious freedoms and fear that it will oppose plans to expand the settlements of the so-called settlers in the West Bank, a territory that according to the international community belongs to the Palestinians (today deprived of their own autonomous state). and which has been partially occupied by Israel since 1967.
– Read also: The justice reform being protested in Israel, well explained
