Don’t Give Them Guns!
The outrage that many feel at the ongoing refusal of the ultra-Orthodox or “Haredi” Israelis to allow their children to serve in the army isunderstandabl e. Itis even more outrageous that this same population receives special government funding for their institutions, for housing and for other needs. And that, while vociferously avoiding service, Haredi representatives are a key part of the most right wing coalition in Israel’s history.
And yet I think there is a case to be made that drafting Haredi Israelis is dangerous for the State of Israel. One of the slogans with which Israel’s right wing protested the Oslo Accords was “Don’t Give Them Guns”. Under the agreement, and joint teams of Israelis soldiers and armed Palestinians were to patrol the areas that were under joint governance. The right wing was against this, adamant that arming Palestinians was foolhardy. Thus the popular slogan: “Don’t give them guns!”
When thinking about the potential presence of Haredim in the army, that phrase from a different era keeps ringing in my ears. Don’t give them –the Haredim –guns. Why not? Because the greatest, and not unwarranted, Haredi fear of the draft is that integration into the army will result in the mass defection of their young people from Haredi life. This means that If somehow the Israeli government –presumably not this one –succeeds in drafting significant numbers of Haredi youth into the army, part of the deal, on which Haredi leaders will insist, will surely be to create separate Haredi army frameworks. This has already begun with the formation of Nezach Yehuda and other Haredi units.
Currently, these units are small. But what if there were larger battalions of Haredi soldiers? Would their loyalty be, ultimately, to the army hierarchy and to the rule of law? What would happen if there was a constitutional crisis, some kind of test that split the country on, say, religious and secular or left versus right grounds –a not inconceivable prospect, to say the least. If that unfortunate scenario unfolded, I believe that there is a good chance that a Haredi battalion would follow the orders of the accepted leaders of the Haredi community, the “gedole hador”, greatest of the generation, who would thus yield tremendous unelected power. Homogenous Haredi troop concentrations might thus increase the chance of civil war.
Israel in general is in desperate need of a strengthening of education for democracy. We need a revamping of the democratic system so as to create representation that is sensitive not just to party politics but to the aspirations, needs and dreams of the Israeli public. Democracy cannot thrive if the participants –the citizens –don’t understand the rules. Who has not heard, in our current crisis, the claim that since the government was elected by a majority (no matter how slim) whatever they wish to do is a valid expression of democracy? Seemingly, many thousands of Israelis do not understand that democracy cannot exist without rule of law, without the protection of the rights of minorities, without a free press and a system that ensures checks and balances to power.
What makes the notion of armed Haredi battalions especially frightening is that, so far, there is no education for democracy in the Haredi world, because there is virtually no non-torahitic education in Haredi schools.
For all its depth and beauty –I am actually a huge fan of aspects of Haredi culture and of some of the human qualities it preserves and produces — Haredi society is currently authoritarian at its core. Traditional Judaism was not necessarily like this. Before the founding of the State of Israel, individual rabbis in small or large communities had their own sphere of authority, and were in constant negotiation with the population they served, having mostly only the power of moral and religious authority to enforce their rulings.
In the diaspora, the gap between Jews and non-Jews meant that assimilation was less likely. Haredim in Israel have no such firewall. Fearing the temptation of secular or modern Orthodox Jewish life particularly in the Jewish state, Haredim have created institutions and codes of conduct that reinforce isolation and insularity. Too many false moves, and your ability to marry into a good family, to place your children into good schools, or get hired by the institutions that control much of the employment, will vanish, and your social status will evaporate. The hierarchical power of the rabbinic authorities at the top of the pyramid has grown exponentially in the Jewish state.
Drafting Haredim into Haredi army frameworks directly from within an authoritarian society, without insisting on education for democracy, is playing with fire. Of course, there are two sides to this question: Perhaps, even in Haredi frameworks, life in the army will help soften the isolation of Haredi society, and create a sense of responsibility to society at large that mostly does not exist now in Haredi politics. And the unbearable burden of the secular and Religious Zionist populations who do go to the army is certainly a consideration.
Perhaps Haredim can be drafted into non-combat units, or into a compulsory form of non-military national service that will contribute meaningfully to Israel’s wellbeing. Right now, in any case, a massive Haredi draft is unlikely under the present coalition government. That may change. And if it does, it is crucial to remember: The framework must be constructed in a way that ensures that the army, and the Israeli democracy are not compromised. Otherwise, I say: Don’t give them guns!
Perhaps even more importantly, the Israel public must insist that education for democracy, including healthy debate as to its definition and how to make it work, must be integrated into the Haredi school system (and strengthened in all our school systems), Or, if tampering with Haredi curriuculum is too hot button, education in informal frameworks that include adults might also work. We can’t have an increasing percentage of the population playing the democratic game without knowing and respecting the rules that make democracy work.