Israel
Political arguments don’t matter — my rabbi told me how to vote
Nathan Jeffay finds in Bnei Brak that Strictly Orthodox voters are well aware of the domestic political debate, but most have already made their mind up
September 11, 2019 13:21
Nathan Jeffay finds in Bnei Brak that Strictly Orthodox voters are well aware of the domestic political debate, but most have already made their mind up
September 11, 2019 13:21Prominent politicians want to exclude Charedi parties from Israel’s next government — and in Strictly Orthodox areas voters are getting worried.
“It’ll be easier to live in the USA as a Charedi Jew than living here,” said Moshe Chen, a middle-aged man, in Bnei Brak on Tuesday.
Blue & White leader Benny Gantz has said that he wants a “liberal unity government”, which is understood as a declaration that he wants to freeze out Charedi parties. The two Charedi parties, United Torah Judaism (UTJ) and Shas, and are a fixture of most governments and are expected to gain 14 seats between them next week.
If the poll is close, Yisrael Beiteinu is expected to be kingmaker, deciding whether Likud or Blue & White forms the next government — and as a strongly-secularist party it is desperate for a unity government that excludes Charedi parties.
Mr Chen gave an impassioned argument for voting United Torah Judaism in the heart of a local shopping area, where you can buy the most modest clothes in Israel and the food with the most stringent kashrut supervision.
While some Israelis complain about “religious coercion,” Mr Chen fears “secular coercion” by a government that excludes Charedi parties, and believes that strongly-secularist politicians will force their ways on the religious.
He also believes that budgets to religious institutions like yeshiva will suffer. “They will turn off the taps,” he said.
In a Bnei Brak Judaica store, shopkeeper Rafael Yomtov was convinced that if there is a Charedi-free government, “there will be chaos.”
Mr Yomtov supports Shas, which describes itself as the “mezuzah” of secular-led governments — in other words, a force that gives it a Jewish character. He fears that a government without his party will harm the “basic rights” of Charedim.
As he guided a customer with tzitzit choices he expressed concerns about budgets and potential harm to the religious character of the state.
“There will also be more shops open on Shabbat,” he said.
Yehuda Leventson, a 21-year-old UTJ voter, is keen to see his party fight to preserve Charedi exemptions from army service. Yisrael Beiteinu is so keen to conscript Charedim that it blocked the formation of a government after the April election over this issue.
Mr Leventson said: “It’s not actually about army service but rather ensuring that people can sit and learn Torah [instead of conscripting].”
Voters in Bnei Brak are happy to discuss the issues that worry them — but many say that their assessment of the political situation is not actually relevant to how they vote.
A few said they will not be voting, because of disillusionment with the Charedi parties, but almost all others said that they make their choice based on what their rabbi says.
“My rabbi said to vote,” explained Avraham Kibetz, 36, adding that the conduct of the candidates is irrelevant given that his rabbi said to vote UTJ. “It doesn’t matter what they do — if the rabbi said it, he said it.”
Avishai, a 19-year-old who would not give his surname, said that as soon as his rabbis asked him to vote UTJ, “in my eyes it’s halachah,” using the Hebrew word for religious law.
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