To understand the depth of haredi contempt for Israel, read the fine print

There are a minority of haredim who actually support the idea of Israel as a Jewish state. There are even a handful who would wish to serve in the IDF were it not for catastrophic social and familial consequence for their doing so.

However, the overwhelming haredi majority, and their leaders especially, are uncompromisingly hostile to the very notion of Zionism. They detest the State, have zero kinship to the general population, and feel justified in deploying every political trick and individual chicanery to dislodge maximum benefits and billions in outright handouts from the Zionist taxpayer.

Recently, in a rare moment of honest contempt, the senior sage of the Lithuanian haredim, Rabbi Dov Lando, expressed his preference for an Arab government. He is hardly alone.

The haredi political parties exist for only one reason, to sell their rubber stamp, for policies that are irrelevant to them, in exchange for billions of shekels in cold coin, and in order to insulate their young men from having to share any responsibility for the safety and security of the country.

Their argument that military exemption is justified because their minions are engaged in Torah study is simply untrue. The percentage of haredi men who possess the mental acuity and stamina needed to attain any degree of serious Talmudic scholarship is similar to the number of music students who achieve the virtuosity necessary to earn an exemption from army service – a tiny number at best.

The reason haredim avoid the Israeli draft is the same reason they would avoid a draft in America, or Britain or anywhere else in the world — because they refuse to become part of the greater society except as necessary to get financial and medical benefits for themselves.

Only in Israel is this cynicism compounded by a visceral hatred for Zionism that long preceded the establishment of the State. It goes well beyond mere indifference. It is outright contempt, and a belief that it is virtually a mitzvah to take whatever they can and give nothing in return.

The worst is the Agudat Yisrael which until 1948 was openly hostile to the establishment of the State. However, their leadership – now headed by a real estate baron posing as the Gerer Rebbe – chose to exploit the newly established state by way of using its political system for totally parochial purposes. By contrast, the Neturei Karta and the Brisker yeshiva at least had sufficient integrity to opt out of the political system, and to eschew any direct government assistance. Agudat Yisrael instead, deployed every Talmudic trick and technicality in their arsenal to piggyback on a society they detest.

When someone like Bibi says he believes in preserving Torah scholarship we know enough to understand that he is lying through his teeth. Few Israeli leaders have ever been more secular than Bibi. His interest in bolstering haredi society is utterly cynical and self-serving.

But there are others who persist in believing that haredim are an integral part of Israeli society, and that with time and patience they will eventually mature into productive citizens. Their error may be innocent, yet it imperils us all.

Haredim are not on the Israeli social continuum. They are a separate body that will never become part of Israel. Like gypsy tribes, their allegiances are totally to their rebbe or rosh yeshiva who they consider royalty. They pay taxes to them in the form of pidyonos or donations. They defer to them as the first and last word in what one may or may not do.

And we see it all the time. The ostensibly elected haredi MKs always go back to their “sages” for any decision. Much like the mullocracy in Iran, democracy is mere window dressing. The ultimate decision is always made by the unelected “supreme leader”.

No further proof is needed of the total Haredi disconnect from Israel than a look into their published books.

US law requires books printed offshore to publish the country of origin in each volume. Most of the books published in Israel say PRINTED IN ISRAEL on the copyright page. This is true not only for secular titles, but also for religious books published by religious Zionists and by Chabad.

By contrast, the books published by haredi publishers say PRINTED IN E. ISRAEL. The ‘E’ stands for Eretz, because haredim will only refer to where they live as “Eretz Yisroel” which does not exist as a sovereign entity. They assume the ‘E’ will go unnoticed by the authorities. In this way they can get way without, heaven forfend, having to – even in this most minuscule manner – acknowledge the existence of Israel, the state.

If haredim can’t even bring themselves to say “Printed in Israel”, can we expect them to actually respond positively to IDF draft notices? Why do we persist in fooling ourselves into believing they, at the end of the day, are our brothers? Why do we allow a prime minister to mendaciously include their parties in the governing coalition? Why do we allow ourselves to be systematically embezzled by an insular society that has only contempt for the productive, tax paying, army serving public?

Is there no limit?