Since the results of the elections were announced, according to which there is a clear majority for the right-wing bloc led by Netanyahu, there has been a heated debate on the Internet.
In the focus: the consequences of establishing another coalition with the ultra-orthodox and religious parties.
In light of this, the quite tangible fear arose that even the few steps that were taken in the field of religion and state, would be canceled in a government that relies on the votes of the ultra-Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox factions.
Some of the respondents, including my colleagues Hanan Greenwood, dismissed this legitimate concern as a false alarm.
A kind of classic left-wing hysteria that has no grip on reality.
No one in Israel will go with a forced wife in the style of "The Handmaid's Tale" and the status quo will more or less be maintained, Greenwood explains, there is nothing to fear from a Halacha state.
After all, the majority of the religious and ultra-orthodox do not want to influence the public space of the secular and traditional.
the main rabbinate.
The kosher reform on the way to cancellation?, Photo: Oren Ben Hakon
This is of course a straw man.
No one really believes that the "Jewish Republic of Israel" will be established here next week.
It is clear that no one will force secular women to wear a shebis and secular men to walk around with a cap and a tassel.
This is a ridiculous claim, and whoever believes that this is what most of the secularists really think - probably has not talked to someone like that recently outside of social networks.
The more realistic fear is that the old status quo will be re-established.
The kosher reform, for example, is not an internal sectoral matter that concerns only the religious and the ultra-orthodox.
It also concerns countless secular and traditional business owners who may now be harmed by turning the wheel backwards.
The monopoly on kashrut allowed the rabbis for years to burden the cost of living.
The reform aims to open up this market and may lower costs.
If indeed it is canceled - we will all feel it in our pockets.
In the end, not only religious and ultra-Orthodox people eat kosher.
Kosher certificate in the restaurant.
The reform concerns many business owners, photo: Yehoshua Yosef
Furthermore, the hope that there will be some solution to the issue of the marriage of hundreds of thousands of Israelis who are not defined as Jews according to Orthodox law or cannot marry for some other reason has faded away.
They will continue to pay thousands of shekels out of their own pockets to fly and get married abroad. This public is worthy enough to serve in the army, die on the battlefield, pay taxes or vote in elections. But the basic right - to marry in their homeland - is being taken away from them because of the sanctification of the status quo. It seems that this is one The great failures of the "government of change", which missed a historic opportunity.
Even the members of the LGBT community do not really need to fear the cancellation of the pride parade or biblical stoning.
But their structural discrimination will continue: they will not be able to marry and will have to pay a fortune for adoption and surrogacy procedures abroad (and in the end they will be accused of violating women's rights). In Israel, by the way, the members of the community do not even have the right to adopt children.
During the "government of change", the community did benefit from budgets intended to help LGBT youth in the periphery. For the first time, the Ministry of Health even imposed a ban on conversion treatments. However, legislation that would achieve true equality of rights for them was not made, mainly due to the opposition of Ra'am.
Now, it is possible that these budgets will be cut and the ban on conversion treatments will be lifted on the grounds that they "harm the Jewish identity".
Those who will pay the price will be boys and girls who will not be rewarded and will be left alone.
If that's not enough, the public transport in Israel will also continue to stop Malacca every Friday at noon and will resume only in the late hours of Shabbat (and in a reduced format).
Another failure written on the forehead of the outgoing government.
This is when there is a solid majority for public transport on Shabbat.
Egged's bus.
There is a majority for public transportation on Shabbat, but the status quo will be maintained, photo: Yehoshua Yosef/Archive
What prevented a change in the issue is mainly the agreement between the Right and Atid on the preservation of the status quo in matters of Shabbat, marriage and divorce.
What can we say, there is no doubt that protecting the interests of the religious parties helped the right, which fell into pieces.
So it is true, the State of Israel will not turn into Iran tomorrow.
The religious coercion in the country works mainly in a "passive" way: excluding rights from the citizens instead of imposing duties on the public.
But this status quo is here to stay.
And most likely it will get worse.
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