Religion & State

In Israel, religion and state are intertwined. Due to the Jewish nature of the state, the official day of rest day Saturday (Shabbat) and national holidays are those of the Jewish calendar. In accordance with Jewish tradition, the law prohibits work on the Sabbath and Jewish festivals. However, political activists, shop owners and mall proprietors have challenged the laws by opening on the Jewish Sabbath. In some cases the government has issued fines, but this has not prevented an increasing number of leisure businesses from opening.

Religious pluralism within Judaism is another issue affecting Israeli society. The orthodox political parties, representing a traditional Jewish perspective, hold significant political power and are charged by small minorities of reform and conservative Jewish movements of stifling alternative expressions of Judaism. The claim is correct inasmuch as the religious establishment does not provide funds for such groups claiming they have immeasurably damaged Judaism by careless tinkering. At the same time, Jews can practice (or not) any form of Judaism they please with little or no interference from religious authorities. The major exception is lifecycle events such as marriage and burial, which are regulated by religious authorities. Some Israelis marry abroad - Cyprus is a popular destination - as a protest. However, Kadima recently announced its intention of introducing legislation that would legalize civil marriage and burial within Israel, a move that would dramatically alter the current religious status quo in Israel.

While the perceived lack of pluralism vexes Western Jewish supporters of Israel, army exemptions for full-time religious scholars irritates a large percentage of Israelis, including many devoutly religious citizens. The exemptions - introduced by Israel's founder David Ben-Gurion - have lasted 57 years. At first, the exemption was meant to placate the ultra-religious community while simultaneously strengthening Jewish learning decimated by the Nazi Holocaust. Since then, no government has dared risk losing the critical support of the ultra-orthodox (haredi) parties by forcing a change in the status quo.

Therefore thousands of able-bodied men do not serve the compulsory three years in the Israel Defense Forces (soon to be reduced to two years). Until recently, exemption from the army was contingent upon full-time study. The result was that even ultra-orthodox men well beyond draft age could not officially join the workforce without being automatically drafted into the IDF - something few would risk. This situation prevented thousands of tax-dollars from entering the economy even as religious political parties safeguarded government assistance to the large families within their community.

The way to address these issues - some political parties claim - is to simply separate religion and state. Critics of this plan say it jeopardizes the Jewish character of the state and will only exacerbate the problem, as the religious community will feel under attack. Compromise proposals have recently been concluded paving the way for non-IDF veterans to enter the workforce and the establishment of ultra-orthodox army units that adhere to the strictest measures of Jewish law.

Political Parties and the Religion vs. State Issue

Many Israelis feel that Israel's interrelated religion and state has polarized the society.
They view the army exemptions - and the resulting tax burden - as unfair to the non-haredi population and call for an end to the arrangement. In the last two elections, the Shinui party road this public sentiment to dramatic electoral success by making these issues a primary point in its party platform. However, Shinui's dramatic success (fifteen seats in the last Knesset) has been equaled by its dramatic downfall in the last number of months and there are doubts whether the now splintered party will even reach the threshold to win any mandates in the upcoming elections. Shinui's downfall is emblematic of the country's changing priorities. In the shadow of Hamas' victory and the looming threat of a nuclear Iran, coupled with concern for more economic issues like unemployment and social services, issues of religion and state have fallen by the wayside on the agenda of many Israelis. Needless to say, the haredi parties disagree with changing the status quo and fight changes in the status quo viewed as politically motivated or insensitive to their needs. The National Religious Party, while agreeing that Torah study is paramount, distance themselves from the ultra-orthodox parties both in rhetoric and deed.

The major political parties - Labor and Likud (and to a lesser extent Kadima as witnessed by its recent proclamation to introduce civil marriages and burials) - are caught somewhere in the middle. Although all would probably like to see the ultra-orthodox further integrated into Israeli society, they are loath to take on issues such as army exemption directly for fear of souring relations with an important sector of the population and key coalition partners.