Hiddush analysis report: The 2015 Coalition Agreements

The Coalition Agreements: Religion and State Clauses

We are pleased to present to you the analysis report prepared by Hiddush on the religion and state clauses in Israel's 2015 coalition agreements. The document deals with budgets matters; education; freedom of religion and equality of civic burden.

Uri Regev 27/05/2015 23:00

UTJ signs coalition agreement with Likud

Please download the full report by clicking here.

We are pleased to present to you the analysis report prepared by Hiddush on the religion and state clauses in Israel's 2015 coalition agreements. The document deals with budgets matters; education; freedom of religion and equality of civic burden. The picture that emerges is dark and sobering: the agreements undermine the values of democracy, erode the rule of law and equality among citizens, conflict with the national goal of integrating the ultra-Orthodox community into the workforce, damage Israel's relations with the world Jewry and rob the public coffers in broad daylight.

Please download the full report by clicking here.

Just why exactly does fully 76% of the Jewish public believe that the Likud made too many concession to the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism (UTJ) party? Have they already read Hiddush's damning analysis?

It is absolutely clear that the coalition agreements with the religious parties primarily aim to extract the maximum amount of public funding possible for religious causes and institutions.

Based upon Hiddush's report, it is absolutely clear that the coalition agreements with the religious parties primarily aim to extract the maximum amount of public funding possible for religious causes and institutions; as well as to reinstate the protection for yeshiva students to remain in yeshivas and avoid entering the workforce, serving in the army and learning core curricular subjects in their schools. Moreover, these agreements are intended to rollback even the limited progress made by the previous government on matters of religion and state, as well as to further entrench Orthodox exclusivity and dominance in Israel.

This ugly extortionism is possible because Israel is a multi-partisan country. The last elections demonstrated the inadequacy of the Israeli political system, which requires the Prime Minister to garner the support of at least 61 out of the 120 Knesset members in order to rule. Realistically, he needs well over the minimum 61 to maintain a sustainable government; but having rejected the possibility of an agreement with the Labor / Zionist Camp party, Netanyahu was forced to put together a razor-thin coalition, including all of the religious parties (Shas - 7, UTJ - 6, Jewish Home - 8).

The clauses of the coalition agreements can best be understood in the context of “pork barrel” politics, for the sectarian parties made demands on behalf of the Orthodox sector of Israeli society, rather than for all of Israeli society. Quite simply, the Prime Minister put himself into a corner from which submission to the religious parties’ dictates came to characterize their coalition agreements with the Likud. These are the subject of our analysis.

It's no surprise that more than half of the Jewish public believes that the Prime Minister's new coalition government will do great damage to Israelis' relationship with their Jewish heritage! The coalition agreements with United Torah Judaism and Shas represent historic, peak levels of political blackmail, and the Israeli public knows it. Both ultra-Orthodox parties demanded that the 2012 budget year serve as a basis for their negotiations, the year their budgets were the highest. They did not stop there, demanding additional funds for particular projects. In every case where the ultra-Orthodox parties’ budgets were higher than their 2012 levels during a particular year, that year was chosen as the starting point for negotiations.

The Zionist religious Jewish Home party also chose to join in the fun. If the two ultra-Orthodox parties together received a total of 260 million NIS per year to use as they like, The Jewish Home received 790 million NIS. That’s 3x the amount! Hopefully, the money will be allocated for state purposes. However, in recent years, funds received by The Jewish Home were used to fund missionary groups that proselytize to secular Jews, as well as NGOs that promote an Orthodox style of Judaism... Sadly, hope may die hard.

The report's executive summary, found in its first pages and available for download on the Hiddush website provides us a point-by-point overview. To learn more about funding for non-working fathers who study in yeshivas, castrating the draft bill for ultra-Orthodox men, funding ultra-Orthodox missionary groups, and much, much more, please click here for the full report.