Fortuitously, and just in time, I read verses 9-10 of Exodus’s first chapter from the Torah reading of this past Shabbat, and realized they were my obvious frame of reference after hearing the words spoken by Weizmann Institute physicist Shikma Bressler last week, as well as statements of others.
Addressing a meeting and being asked about budget matters and election possibilities for the Left liberal camp, she said that only those institutions that adhered to and promoted liberal democratic values should receive grants and subsidies.
Moreover, as she explained to her audience, “the moment these funds are cut off [from haredi/ultra-Orthodox institutions] the birth rate will immediately drop.” Questioned that this would take 18 years, perhaps 20, she retorted, “No, the very next morning.”
The biblical verses in Exodus that came to mind have Egypt’s Pharaoh saying – after becoming aware of a great population growth among the Israelite slaves, despite their status as overworked, impoverished, and hungry – that “the children of Israel are too many and too mighty for us – let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply.” I could not but hear an echo of that coming out of the mouth of Bressler.
This was not a one-off remark. In late October, in a podcast, she said: “If we do not truly break [haredi society’s influence] apart, then the demography really seals the matter. The good news is that we have the wherewithal.”
Yair Lapid speaks about haradi enlistment
In a similar vein, opposition head MK Yair Lapid of Yesh Atid spoke very forcefully that if haredi men do not enlist for military service, besides economic punishment, he is all in favor of disallowing them from participating in elections and taking away their right to vote.
As a Haaretz October 27 story framed it: “Israel’s opposition leader says he supports revoking voting rights of draft dodgers.”
As it happens, there is another part of Israel’s society that does not perform military service. That part is the Arab sector, except for a few exceptions that do indeed serve. While there is a good reason for that exemption, for over 40 years, legislation has been proposed to enforce at least some form of national service framework as a substitute, but never been passed.
Lapid was adamant that his proposal was correct, and in a press statement on November 30, clarified his stand. Indeed, his proposed bill that would deny voting rights to those who refuse to report for IDF enlistment would not apply to Arabs. Why? “The Arab public in the State of Israel isn’t summoned to enlist, so it doesn’t apply to them,” he told KAN.
The right to vote, he went on, is “not sacred.” On the other hand, he explained, as his legislation that intends to deny ultra-Orthodox Jewish men the right to vote for the Knesset “applies only to people who received a draft notice, are healthy, can come to the induction base, and chose not to,” those who do not receive such notices will be free to vote.
Is there any debate among those political parties that pride themselves as being grounded in democratic and liberal values, regarding the obvious contradiction in their positions toward Jews and those dealing with Muslims? Is anyone in the liberal camp suggesting that draft notices for certain forms of service could be arranged?
Another issue of liberal ideology is that of free speech. In the name of that principle, the decision of the government to shut down the IDF’s Army Radio (Galatz) has been attacked.
Former state attorney-general Avichai Mandelblit was a guest of Keren Marciano on Channel 12 on January 7.
Among the questions his interviewer posed was why, during the Lapid-Bennett government in 2022, he handed down an operative opinion that permitted the closure of Galatz by a simple government decision.
After all, at this moment, the current attorney-general, Gali Miara-Baharav, has issued a different opinion and is denying the government that privilege unless Knesset legislation is passed.
Is Miara-Baharav being illiberal and prohibiting the government its democratic right, or was Mandelblit at that time, just three years ago, being too liberal? Poor Mandelblit – he was stumped. He tried to respond, but either his tongue or his reasoning was not working, and he ended up stammering and claiming, “it’s not the same.”
Counting with the theme of the media, which all liberal and democratic forces the world over hold to be one of the most critical elements of a healthy society, it plays a vital role in democracies as an arena for debate and a source of accountability. But Democrats Party head Yair Golan has a different opinion.
According to him, as in multiple recent appearances in which he addressed the media, he has the right to decide if a media outlet is just a “propaganda” instrument. If he decides that it is, he can close it. And no, he is not referring to Galatz: His desire is to take Channel 14 off the air.
At the “Democracy Conference” held at the Tel Aviv Academic College last week, Golan stated that he is firm in his intention to close it. He declared that it is “a channel that systematically incites against hostages’ families during the war. This is a propaganda channel, and propaganda is dangerous.”
Of course, there is a substantial body of Israeli citizens who just might consider Galatz, and even one or more other media networks and a newspaper, to be platforms for propaganda. But Golan is presenting an example in which one man’s opinion and point of view is another’s expression of propaganda.
In a liberal democracy, that difference is to be tolerated as a thing of worth that assures democracy’s existence. Obviously, there are others who might be thinking otherwise. What the illiberals should remember is that the Children of Israel are no longer an enslaved people but citizens of a democratic state.
The writer is a researcher, analyst, and commentator on political, cultural, and media issues.