Israel’s Ultra-Orthodox Parties, Shorn of Influence, Vow to Unseat Prime Minister Naftali Bennett
Some warn that Israel’s Jewish identity is under threat after broad coalition ousts community’s ally Netanyahu
TEL AVIV—For the past four decades, Israel’s ultra-Orthodox parties have spent more time in government than out. Now they join their ally Benjamin Netanyahu in opposition, and have already begun taking aim at new Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s coalition as they try to preserve some of the hard-won privileges they enjoy in Israeli society.
Many rabbis and religious lawmakers regard Mr. Bennett’s coalition as a threat to their way of life. His government, sworn in Sunday, is a broad alliance of right-wing, leftist and centrist parties, even an independent Arab Islamist party, a first in Israeli politics. Ultra-Orthodox politicians fear it will diminish the community’s status and have vowed to disrupt and ultimately bring down the new administration, setting up what could be a prolonged skirmish over what kind of country Israel should be.
“I will use what our father Jacob used when he needed to deal with Esau: gifts, prayer and war,” said Uri Maklev, a lawmaker with the United Torah Judaism party, in a television interview with Kan News on Monday. He was referring to the battle between the grandsons of Abraham, the biblical father of the Jewish people.
Another ultra-Orthodox politician, Yaakov Litzman, recalled how he and his allies managed to oust one of Mr. Bennett’s key partners, centrist Yair Lapid, when he served as finance minister in one of Mr. Netanyahu’s governments and moved to cut funding for religious education.
“We took him to school then, I hope we’ll continue to take him to school today,” he said as he left his job as housing minister in the outgoing government.
Known in Israel as Haredim, from the Hebrew for God-fearing, the ultra-Orthodox embrace a lifestyle that adheres to the strictest standards of Jewish law. They make up around 12% of the population and live in communities that avoid the mixing of the sexes and keep modern secular life at arm’s length. Many of the community’s leaders cast themselves as Israel’s moral guardians, and earlier this month a group of leading rabbis released a letter saying that they will fight to preserve Israel’s Jewish character.
“We cannot accept a reality in which a government will be formed in Israel that will harm the most fundamental matters or religion and state,” it read.
Ultra-Orthodox parties could prove a significant irritant for Mr. Bennett, given the narrow support for his government. Just 60 members of Israel’s 120-member parliament gave him their support, with 59 voting against. One lawmaker abstained. The vote came after years of political deadlock that has seen four national elections since 2019.
Mr. Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving leader, frequently relied on the religious parties for support. He formed just one short-lived coalition without them and, as opposition leader, is teaming up again with ultra-Orthodox parties in an attempt to open cracks in the new government. Mr. Netanyahu convened his first meeting with them on Monday, and said they would meet at least once a week as they push ahead plans to quickly topple the new administration.
Flashpoints already are emerging.
Agreements signed between the new coalition’s members provide for more competition in regulating kosher projects and allow regional and municipal rabbinical authorities to preside over religious conversions, something currently restricted to the state religious Jewish authority controlled by the ultra-Orthodox. The issue directly affects the influence of the community, and ultra-Orthodox groups already are mobilizing support and focusing their ire squarely on Mr. Bennett, a 49-year-old former commando and tech entrepreneur who is religious and wears the kippah.
“[Bennett] sold out all of our values,” said Mr. Maklev, who previously was deputy minister of transport. “The new government will be a complete abandonment of religion.”
A widespread concern in the community is education. Ultra-Orthodox students attend separate schools where math and sciences mostly aren’t taught. For the community’s leaders, preserving the religious curriculum is pivotal to maintaining its way of life.
More secular leaders worry that having an increasingly large share of the population without any basic education preparing them for working life could pose a threat to Israel’s future economic growth.
Ultra-Orthodox parties have largely participated in Israel governments since Mr. Netanyahu’s party, the Likud, first took power in 1977, when it was headed by Menachem Begin, a militant Zionist who became Israel’s sixth prime minister. When they were on the outside, it was usually only for a year or two.
“They are very angry and they are very disappointed and you can also say they are under pressure,” said Gilad Malach, an expert on the ultra-Orthodox at the Israel Democracy Institute. He said they are worried the new government will cut funding for their communities and limit their political influence.
The past year has been difficult for ultra-Orthodox Israelis. The Covid-19 pandemic hit their towns and neighborhoods hard after they were slow or reluctant to follow social distancing guidelines that interfered with many ultra-Orthodox customs. Among more secular Israelis, Mr. Netanyahu’s popularity suffered from the perception that he was lenient on enforcing lockdowns to preserve support among the community.
Once Israel lifted its pandemic curbs, tragedy again struck the ultra-Orthodox community when dozens of people were killed in a stampede at a religious festival in Israel’s north, the first mass gathering since the start of the pandemic.
The arrival of Mr. Bennett’s government is yet another crisis to Israel’s ultra-Orthodox leaders, making them a threat to the survival of his fragile coalition in its current form and, potentially, a way back into power for Mr. Netanyahu.
In some ultra-Orthodox towns such as Bnei Brak, some residents are already predicting their leaders will soon return to power.
“Just as we survived the pharaoh in Egypt, so too will we pass this government,” said Gedaliah Ben Shimon, 42, an ultra-Orthodox lawyer.
