A positive look on the "blame game"

Why did MK Moshe Gafni single out Hiddush in the Knesset?

MK Moshe Gafni (UTJ) is right about one thing: Hiddush works tirelessly to provide up-to-date facts and figures to policymakers on religion/state issues to advance the freedoms that were promised to Israelis in the Declaration of Independence.

11/04/2013 16:23

Tags: Yair Lapid ·  Moshe Gafni ·  Aryeh Dari ·  coalition ·  Kikar HaShabbat ·  ultra-Orthodox parties ·  budget ·  Shahar Ilan

Chairman of the finance committee, Moshe Gafni from Degel Ha'tora, raising his fist during a speech at the Knesset assembly. To his right his party member Uri Maklev.07.05.2012. Photographed by: Miriam Elster, Flash 90.

As MK Moshe Gafni (United Torah Judaism- UTJ) finds himself out of the powerful position as chair of the Knesset Finance Committee, it's no wonder that he is both bitter and critical. He recently lashed out at the new Finance Minister, Yair Lapid for planning to reduce excessive financial benefits that the ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) sector has become accustomed to receiving. What was different about this round of attacks? Gafni's surprising finger-pointing was directly aimed at Hiddush and the organization's Vice President, Shahar Ilan for this widely-anticipated policy change. He said, as if to explain how Lapid came to the objectionable move: "Shahar Ilan apparently has been giving you a lot of material."

This is not the first time that Gafni or others in the ultra-Orthodox camp have held Hiddush responsible for challenges or policy recommendations that cut into long-held exclusive privileges enjoyed by the ultra-Orthodox sector. In response to the social protests in the summer of 2011, the Trachtenberg Committee proposed budget cuts that reduced funding to the Haredi population and other measures aimed at integrating them into the workforce. Criticizing the proposal, Gafni said, "Does Trachtenberg even know what a Haredi looks like…Who consulted to the Committee on Haredim? Shahar Ilan ...” The ultra-Orthodox media similarly coined the committee's findings as the adoption of the "Hiddush Torah." In Kikar Shabbat, an online Haredi newspaper, one of their leading political analyst wrote: It isn’t even necessary to read the [Trachtenberg] report. The Trachtenberg Committee put it all into one hideous table which summarized all of the “Hiddush Torah” on one leg."

Thankfully, Hiddush takes these accusations as a sign that we are headed in the right direction. Hiddush takes great credit at providing Israel’s policy makers with credible, quality analysis and recommendations, aimed at advancing religious freedom and equality in shouldering the civic burden. Our small team includes experts in the key areas relevant to thorough understanding of all aspects of the religion/state interface, and we continuously engage in research and unearthing new data. We frequently receive requests from policy makers [and the media] for information.

While we hold that Gafni’s attribution of Lapid’s use of Hiddush information was exaggerated, we are indeed proud to have been able to help Yesh Atid in better understanding the financial, state-funded maze surrounding the religious arena. After the new Knesset was sworn into office, Hiddush sent each member a package with a rich selection of materials, including the 2012 Religion and State Index, a comprehensive policy proposal for advancing civil society in Israel, and a summary of the 18th Knesset's record on matters of religion and state during their four year term. The summary highlighted the Knesset's failure to properly address the pressing issues of religion and state, such as the ultra-Orthodox draft, exclusion of women in the public sphere, and the conversion crisis.

It's not surprising that Hiddush comes to mind when ultra-Orthodox politicians and commentators try to understand how they recently ended up in the government's opposition and lost key portfolios. For instance, following the Knesset elections, Hiddush researched a large volume of data relating to 2 recent fiscal years and released a report, which showed how MK Gafni, using his position as Chair of the Knesset Finance Committee, orchestrated the additional transfer of approximately a billion shekels a year to religious institutions, without public scrutiny because the Knesset had already debated and approved the state's budget. The report made massive waves throughout Israel's financial news networks. It shed light on the blatant preferential policies that were practiced in the Knesset Finance Committee in favor of ultra-Orthodox institutions. Yeshiva World News, an ultra-Orthodox news service, saw it as a significant influencing factor, making MK Gafni's chances of continuing as chair of the Knesset Finance Committee slim.

We have endlessly spoken about freedom of religion and social equality not only as an interest for the secular and non-Orthodox population in Israel but as a necessary ingredient for the wellbeing of Religious Zionism and Israeli Modern Orthodoxy.

 "After the report released last week by the Hiddush organization regarding Yahadut Hatorah’s [UTJ] control of the committee was published in all the national newspapers, Bayit Yehudi may have an easier time wresting control of the committee away from Moshe Gafne… the report is received as factual and its ramifications may be widespread."

Though Hiddush did the research and publicized the report, MK Gafni has no one to blame but himself. Rabbi Uri Regev, CEO of Hiddush, is not so distressed about Moshe Gafni's accusations. "We derive great satisfaction seeing how our public outreach has helped shape the discourse and agenda of the general Israeli public. In the past four years, Hiddush has continuously called for a civil government to promote freedom of religion and equality in sharing the civic burden. We have endlessly spoken about freedom of religion and social equality not only as an interest for the secular and non-Orthodox population in Israel but as a necessary ingredient for the wellbeing of Religious Zionism and Israeli Modern Orthodoxy. These issues hold the key to the future to Israel's economic growth and national security. We believe that here is a historic[?] importance in building a partnership between the religious and secular camps in Israel in order to work together to shape Israel’s identity as a “Jewish and democratic state” and achieve freedom of religion and conscience in Israel, as promised in the country's Declaration of Independence."

Hiddush's polling from before and after the 2013 Knesset elections pointed to the significant influence that matters of religion and state played on voters' decision-making. In these elections, Hiddush's agenda was voiced by the Israeli public and issues of religion and state receive a far more serious treatment on the Knesset floor. We will continue doing our outmost, with like-minded organizations in Israel and the Diaspora, to help impress on Israel’s policy makers the critical need to protect and sustain freedom of religion in Israel.

Though they might not agree with our conclusions, the Haredi political leadership understands the reality that Hiddush's work reflects. Rabbi Aryeh Deri the leader of Shas, the Sefardic Ultra-Orthodox party spoke about the impact of Hiddush's work on religion/state public and political discourse, saying, "these reports and data [of Hiddush] are the heart of the problem. This is our (the Haredi community) real problem....we need to know that against facts and figures, demagoguery and propaganda tricks will not work ... (Hiddush) is a body that manages to publish a report every year and sell it well to the media." As Deri rightfully said, there is nothing that speaks louder than real facts and figures.

Time and time again, Hiddush emphasizes that public opinion in Israel today points directly toward the need move away from the “status quo” towards positive and progressive change in the relationship of religion and state in Israel. In the meantime, if Moshe Gafni and his colleagues want to cite Hiddush as the reason for their growing frustration over being relegated to the government opposition, they are more than welcome to do so.