8 The Jewish Herald • Friday, March 22, 2013 EXCLU S ION S


COALITION J


Deal Worries Charedi Leadership


Charedim fear what coalition deal will bring; secularist group accuses Lapid of abandoning promises on religion and State


J E R E M Y S H A R O N


ERUSALEM — Rabbi Aharon Leib Shteinman, spiritual leader of the charedi world, spoke out last Saturday night against the proposals for charedi


enlistment in the coalition agreements signed last Friday. Many of the clauses within the deals directly af-


fect the charedi community and would, if implement- ed, lead to drastic changes in ultra-Orthodox society, including stipulations to institute the teaching of core curriculum subjects in charedi schools; condition- ing State benefits on being employed; and increasing charedi enlistment into national service. “Suddenly this great trouble has come upon us, a ter-


rible trouble to destroy the Jewish People and the To- rah,” Shteinman said at a conference in Bnei Brak. “For many generations we were able to learn and


teach Torah to our children, and the Torah increased and yeshivas increased . . . and we are asking for mer- cy from G-d that He will enable us to continue learn- ing Torah all our lives,” the charedi website Kikar Ha- Shabbat quoted the rabbi as saying. Shteinman said the charedi world must strive to in-


crease its study of Torah which would provide spiritu- al merit and lead G-d to provide for the community. United Torah Judaism MK Meir Porush said that anyone involved in the drafting of the “wretched” co-


alition agreements would be “remembered for eter- nal disgrace.” “When we say in a few days in the Passover meal,


‘In each and every generation they rise up to destroy us and G-d will save us from their hand,’ it will have all the greater significance,” Porush added. Speaking for this article, charedi journalist Yisroel


Cohen said the feeling in the ultra-Orthodox world was one of concern and fear that their situation is changing. “It’s clear that the rules of the game have changed,


the charedi parties are on the outside, they’re not in government, they don’t have their hands on the taps anymore, they don’t have the influence or power, so this makes it harder to act,” Cohen explained. He said, though, that the charedi leadership was wait-


ing to see what will happen and if the various stipula- tions of the coalition agreements will be implemented. If the terms of the agreements were implemented


in full, they would be unacceptable to the charedi com- munity and the rabbinic leadership, Cohen said. And it is not only the planned reforms to charedi en-


listment that is worrying the ultra-Orthodox world, but also the provisions calling for core curriculum sub- jects to be taught in charedi schools as well as the re- forms to eligibility for State benefits. The agreement between Yesh Atid and Likud Beit- einu stipulates that the next budget should include a


Plans Changes To Charedi Enlistment Agreement labeled by draft reform groups as “very positive,” although


reservations about time frame for implementation of reforms expressed J E R E M Y S H A R O N


J


ERUSALEM — The details of the coalition agreements’ outline for increasing charedi enlistment that were published last Friday


contained few surprises. Draft reform groups, however, labeled the outline as


“very positive,” although reservations about the time frame for the implementation of reforms were also expressed. For the new legislation on charedi enlistment, a


ministerial committee will be set up to devise the bill, which must be brought to the Knesset within 45 days of the swearing-in of the government. The plan, to be implemented by 2017, will set a limit


of 1,800 yeshiva students who will be given a complete exemption each year from national service at the age of 21 and who will receive a higher stipend than at present. They will be obligated to study until 26 and will be


subject to personal economic sanctions if they evade their obligations. Anyone wishing to defer their national service for


religious studies may do so until age 21, when they will have to perform either military or civilian service, with the Defense Ministry and IDF given first choice on who will be drafted into the army. The remainder will go to civilian service, will which — for the majority of re- cruits — consist of “substantial service” in the Police, Ambulance, or Fire and Rescue services as well as the IDF Home Front Command and the voluntary emer- gency response service ZAKA. Those serving in the Civilian Service will be paid less than those in the IDF. Anyone refusing to serve without an exemption


will be subject to personal economic sanctions. Ye- shivas with high percentages of students who re- fuse to serve will also have financial penalties lev- ied against them. The plan also seeks to draft at least 1,600 charedim


into combat units with at least two new battalions of what is known as Nachal Charedi to be established by 2014, with more to come after that, and the cre- ation of a charedi basic training base. Between now and 2017, anyone over the age of 22


will be given the option to serve or not. Anyone choos- ing not to serve will be given an exemption, cleared to join the workforce and be provided with profession- al training in sectors of the economy requiring addi- tional manpower. For charedi men between the ages of 18 and 21,


the State will set increasing targets for enlistment in both IDF and civilian service, starting at 3,300 in 2013 and rising to 5,600 by 2016. Approximately 7,000 charedi males turn 18 each


year. The plan outlined in the coalition agreements also


calls for increasing Arab enlistment in civilian ser- vice, on a volunteer basis, to 6,000 a year. The coalition agreement between Likud Beiteinu


and Bayit Yehudi spells out several other areas for reforming religious matters in the State. Authority over the Chief Rabbinate will be trans-


ferred from the Prime Minister’s Office to the Reli- gious Services Ministry, as will the Conversion Au- thority and administration of the holy sites. Although Bayit Yehudi had demanded that the budget for yeshivas and the Rabbinical Courts Sys-


Israel’s Knesset, as it looks from the outside


plan for the gradual introduction of a system whereby all State benefits will be granted only if a person is em- ployed, actively looking for employment or unable to work. This will include subsidized housing and child day care. Such measures would have a serious impact on the


finances of the average charedi family and would se- riously complicate full-time yeshiva study. Teaching of core curriculum topics in charedi


schools is perhaps as sensitive an issue as that of enlist- ment. The independence of the charedi education system was something that the community leadership insist- C O N T I N U E D O N N E X T P A G E


tem also be transferred to the ministry, it appears that those demands were denied. Among the principles of the new coalition will be to


have the education system “instill a greater identity with Zionism,” while religious services will be “more approachable and friendly to all citizens.” The terms of the current chief rabbis will be extend-


ed until elections for new ones, scheduled for June, are completed, but not for a period longer than four months. A law will also be brought to allow chief rab- bis to stand for election for a second 10-year term. One of the most important clauses of the coalition


agreement is that granting of all State benefits will be dependent on either being employed or proving that one is actively looking for employment. This will have a serious effect on the ability of full-


time yeshiva students to continue studying. This con- dition will also apply to subsidized day care for chil- dren, especially important in the charedi communi- ty, but will only take effect in five years. The agreement also calls for core curriculum sub-


jects to be taught to all schoolchildren, including cha- redim. Charedi schools will have two years to implement


this curriculum. With regards to issues of religion and State, the co-


alition agreement with Bayit Yehudi states that “leg- islative changes in matters of religion will be [made] with the agreement of all coalition parties.” This essentially gives the national-religious Bayit


Yehudi party, along with all the others, the ability to stymie reforms on religious matters such as the hot- button issues of civil marriage, and conversion. However, the agreement also lacks for the first time


a clause committing the government to the preserva- tion of the “status quo” on religious matters, the se- ries of promises to the charedi community pertain- ing to the preservation of religious standards made by David Ben-Gurion in 1947, possibly opening the way for reforms in this area.


—Jerusalem Post


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