Israeli public discourse is caught between what the Left calls the \u201cpoison machine\u201d and what the Right calls the \u201cpoison channels.\u201d As elections approach and every party seeks to distinguish itself, the country\u2019s social race to the bottom is likely to accelerate. A hot \u2013 and dangerous \u2013 summer lies ahead.<\/p>\n
The Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI) examines relations among the different sectors of Israeli society through its Emotional Proximity Index, which measures Israelis\u2019 attitudes toward 10 groups. The findings show that the two least-liked groups, to put it mildly, are Arabs and haredim (ultra-Orthodox), with the latter at the very bottom.<\/p>\n
Beyond the grave social consequences, the nationwide emotional distance from both groups has political implications.<\/p>\n
Each is represented by sectoral parties that many other political actors effectively blacklist: so long as haredi parties defend broad exemption from military service, they are unacceptable partners for a centrist government; so long as Arab parties are not Zionist, they are consigned to the opposition in almost any conceivable coalition.<\/p>\n
The stark result is that broad swaths of the public deem roughly one-third of Israel\u2019s citizens illegitimate partners in a future government. This reality is not inevitable. The coming election campaign may offer an opportunity for some social repair through daring moves that cross sectoral lines.<\/p>\n
One emerging development suggests what may be possible: if Mansour Abbas and Yoav Segalovitz can agree on the latter leaving Yesh Atid and joining Ra\u2019am, it would begin to challenge the current threatening image of the \u201cArab parties\u201d as disloyal to the state and therefore untrustworthy.<\/p>\n
If Segalovitz, who is known for his commitment to fighting violent crime, were then appointed national security minister after being elected on a civic platform supported mainly by Arab voters, everyone would stand to gain. The message would be even more powerful if he served in a broad government that also included right-wing parties.<\/p>\n
Many ultra-Orthodox Jews deeply dissatisfied with haredi leadership<\/p>\n
A similar development could take shape in haredi society. Despite the community\u2019s celebrated unity behind its \u201cgreat Torah sages,\u201d many haredim are deeply dissatisfied with its current predicament.<\/p>\n
Their leadership\u2019s unrestrained rhetoric, its scandalous refusal to shoulder its fair share of the national defense burden, its resistance to employment and educational reform, and the poverty and isolation these policies perpetuate, do not reflect the free choice of thousands of haredim.<\/p>\n
Their numbers are difficult to estimate, but it is hardly far-fetched to say that they represent at least two Knesset seats worth of haredi voters.<\/p>\n
An organized movement of haredim seeking integration \u2013 in employment and military service \u2013 already exists. Led by Rabbi David Leibel through the Achvat Torah network, it gives expression to an authentic haredi voice \u2013 one that understands that haredi society must respond to changing realities and connect with the broader public sphere.<\/p>\n
These haredim seek to realize the ideal of Torah im derech eretz (Torah combined with worldly engagement) without viewing this as either an imposition or a compromise. Conservative in outlook and lifestyle, they nevertheless understand that excessive conservatism breeds stagnation and that its consequences are already clearly visible in parts of haredi society.<\/p>\n
Some haredim are plainly dissatisfied with their political representation. Although the community is growing rapidly \u2013 doubling every 20 years \u2013 its political representation has barely increased. Haredi votes are already drifting to mainstream parties, but only as individuals, quietly breaking ranks, so the message of civic partnership is lost.<\/p>\n
A new haredi party, a concrete initiative called The Haredi Public, is already taking shape, but would be unlikely to clear the electoral threshold and would naturally seek to join an existing party. The next Knesset could therefore include one or two haredi lawmakers elected on a mainstream slate and promoting an explicitly integrationist haredi agenda.<\/p>\n
On the surface, these would be small shifts \u2013 a handful of seats crossing the stark lines between identity groups that divide us. Their true value, however, lies in challenging the automatic labeling of the groups routinely cast as Israel\u2019s ultimate outsiders \u2013 haredim and Arabs. If this promising trend continues, it could strengthen the common denominator of Israeli society: citizenship.<\/p>\n