Schlaglicht Israel Nr. 01/1 2 Aktuelles aus israelischen Tageszeitungen 26. Dezember 2011 – 08. Januar 2012 1. Diskussion um Ultra-Orthodoxe In Israel wächst die Kritik an ultra-orthodoxen Juden. Diese Gruppe macht etwa 10% der Bevölkerung aus und wächst stetig. Ultra-orthodoxe Männer, die an einer Religionsschule lernen, müssen keinen Mili­tärdienst leisten, und der Großteil der Kinder geht auf ultra-orthodoxe Schulen, die nicht an den Lehr­plan staatlicher Schulen gebunden sind. Die wachsende religiöse Einflussnahme der Ultra­Orthodoxen("Haredim"), die im Parlament oftmals das Zünglein an der Waage darstellen und deswe­gen als Koalitionspartner umworben werden, wird nun von der säkularen Mehrheit als zunehmend bedrohlich empfunden. Im Zentrum der Kontroverse steht dabei zurzeit die Ausgrenzung von Frauen bzw. die Geschlechter­trennung. Nachdem in der Stadt Beit Shemesh kleine Mädchen aufgrund ihrer Kleidung, die angeb­lich nicht sittsam genug war, von Ultra-orthodoxen beschimpft und bespuckt worden waren, protestier­ten dort 10.000 Israelis gegen religiösen Extremis­mus. Im Gegenzug demonstrierten in Jerusalem etwa 1.000 Haredim gegen die Diskriminierung von Ultra-orthodoxen. Dass sie dabei KZ-Uniformen und Judensterne trugen, löste jedoch nur noch mehr Kritik aus. Fear of Haredim "The real[problem] is political:[…] Netanyahu's clear choice of an extreme-right, religious-Haredi coalition[…] is one reason for the current unrest. […] Those who strengthen the hand of the Haredi religious-Zionist rabbis, giving them senior positions in the education system, and who are lenient with mosque- burning criminals, reap the whirlwind.[…] The public is fu lly aware that[…] the reason'the Haredim' don't work or serve in the army, and their children go to separate schools, is entirely political, and that it harms the Haredim themselves. But it is easier to hate a faceless collective so long as one does not risk a political statement that ascribes the weakening of Israeli democracy to a comprehensive process of domestic and foreign policy." Aviram Golan, HAA 28.12.11 Change the system but stop Haredi-bashing "We are obliged to respect their right to practice their rituals or customs.[…] The problem we face today is not the haredi life­style. It is their increasing effort to control all reli­gious issues[…]. The critical areas affecting the general population are conversion and marriage. […] The other crucial issue[…] is the ever-increasing proportion of Israeli schoolchildren attending state­financed haredi schools. By excluding all secular subjects from their curricula, these institutions guar­antee that increasing numbers of Israelis will not be prepared for gainful employment and will thus re­main dependent on state welfare all their lives. […] Over 90 percent of haredim remain exempted from any form of national service.[…] It is these issues, rather than the obsession with degenerate zealots, that represent the crucial chal­lenges of the demographically expanding haredi population and that we are obliged to resolve now." Isi Leibler, JPO 04.01.12 Fed up "The majority in Israel is fed up and the usual haredi whine that'the public is being incited against us' isn’t working anymore. I too used to subscribe to the comforting idea that it was only a small number of haredi extremists in­volved in the bullying and abuse of women, the silent majority disapproving from afar, cowed into silence. I’m no longer comfortable with that idea.[…] If there really is a silent majority of haredim who disapprove of spitting on little girls who wear sandals 1