Religious Pluralism and Israel’s New Government https://mosaicmagazine.com/picks/israel-zionism/2015/05/religious-pluralism-and-israels-new-government/

May 11, 2015 | Jonathan Tobin
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Benjamin Netanyahu has brought Israel’s two major ultra-Orthodox (ḥaredi) parties, United Torah Judaism (UTJ) and Shas, into his new governing coalition. Many American Jews would no doubt prefer that Israel display a greater separation of synagogue and state and more religious pluralism; however, writes Jonathan Tobin, they should assess the situation with some realism:

[B]efore [religiously liberal American Jews] start blaming Netanyahu for betraying them, they need to reacquaint themselves with the political realities of Israel and understand that Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog would have cut the same deals with the Ḥaredim.

In addition to being a windfall for the sub-standard ultra-Orthodox education system, the return of Shas and UTJ to power will impact the effort to enact more liberal rules about conversion [and impede] the minimal progress made toward civil marriage and/or the recognition of non-Orthodox movements and rabbis. It may also undermine the plans to create an egalitarian prayer space at the Western Wall.

These are sore points for American Jews who see the exclusion of Reform and Conservative Judaism from official recognition by the Jewish state as a standing insult. . . . But those crying foul over Netanyahu’s deal with the Ḥaredim need to get their heads out of the clouds and understand that their concerns don’t mean much to most Israelis.

Read more on Commentary: https://www.commentarymagazine.com/2015/05/08/religious-pluralism-and-israeli-political-reality/