I would like to begin my remarks with a question that everyone must ask themselves: why exactly now, at the current time, is it important to raise the issue of religion and state and in particular the place of the ultra-Orthodox sector in Israeli society.
The issue of equal burden is not a new issue either and Israeli society has been dealing with the issue for decades.
But today, the evasion data, and the demographic data are such that if we do not address these issues immediately, then the country will simply collapse economically and it will not be able to exist as a Zionist state.
At best, it will become another country in the Middle East, a country of all its citizens whose fate will probably be very similar to that of neighboring Lebanon.
First of all, let's start with the demographic data.
The ultra-Orthodox sector in the State of Israel in 2022 was 1.2 million (13.3%).
The annual natural growth rate of the ultra-orthodox population is fast, 4.4% per year since 2009, compared to 1.4% of the general Jewish population.
The size of the Arab population is 2.037 million (21.1%).
The total Arab and ultra-Orthodox population make up 34.4% of the general population, but in the first grades in Rishon for September 2022 they were: Ultra-Orthodox 21.2% (36,936), Arabs 14.9% (26,000) and Bedouins 6.0% (10,543)
. In first grades, they make up over 42% and in 2028 they will be the majority among first graders.
In addition, the number of yeshiva and kollel students aged 18-67 is about 170 thousand.
The employment rate among ultra-Orthodox men is 51% compared to the other Jewish men, which is 86%.
It should be understood that if the employment rate among ultra-Orthodox men was the same as the employment rate among other Jewish men, it would add an additional 26 billion shekels to the national product.
The studies of the Bank of Israel, not of "Israel Beitno", of the Bank of Israel that were recently published are very clear.
An ultra-orthodox household pays a quarter of the taxes paid by a household in the general sector.
However, regarding the allowances and benefits from the state, the situation is exactly the opposite.
Chairman of Yisrael Beitenu Avigdor Lieberman (photo: photo processing, Flash 90 Yonatan Zindel)
Another study by the Bank of Israel emphatically states that if this situation does not change, in a few years, the state, in order to function and maintain its systems and institutions, will have to raise direct taxes by 16%.
The moral aspect is also equally important.
Gafni's vision that half of the people will learn in yeshivot and half of the people will serve in the IDF is an illusion that harms the national resilience. Just like the evasion bill, which is supposed to come up this month in the Knesset and is based on the wrong principle of discrimination between blood and blood. We as a society have reached a situation where we must not agree on
anything Kunz-patent. There are no more exemptions, no more teachings and their art. Every young man who reaches the age of 18 - Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Druze and Circassian, must enlist in the IDF or the civil service.
simple and egalitarian.
The Zionist vision, as it appears in Herzl's book in the Theocracy chapter, is clear and distinct - separation between religion and state and I have said this more than once: even when you come to the Jabotinsky House in Tel Aviv, on every floor there is a statue or picture of Herzl, Jabotinsky or Trumpeldor and what What unites them all is that all three were absolute atheists.
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Enlisting in the BCOM (Photo: Reuven Castro)
The political, coalitional arrangements in the State of Israel are such that the ultra-orthodox parties usually have a right of veto in almost every coalition.
They are the equalizers, they are the tip of the scales, they are the kingmakers and therefore succeed in a forceful way in getting surplus budgets regardless of the economic, security or social situation of the country as a whole.
If I take the last budget submitted by the government, then for example, the yeshiva budget was doubled, the allowances of the youths increased by 50%, ultra-Orthodox educational institutions that do not teach core studies received an increase of over three billion shekels, but at the same time the budget for the northern protection program was cut by 80%.
It is clear that increasing yeshiva budgets, allowances and the lack of need to study core studies are negative incentives to enter the labor market.
Therefore, to cut the story short, the conclusion of what I have said so far - is that the State of Israel to an absurd degree finances the creation of an anti-Zionist majority in a Zionist country.
All the demographic data indicate that if today's trends continue, 74 percent of all students in the Israeli education system will be ultra-Orthodox, Arab and Bedouin by the year 2050, and in 2058 an anti-Zionist majority will be formed in the entire Israeli population.
Such a reality leads us with one hundred percent certainty to the situation of Lebanon today, a divided country, made up of different tribes with countless frictions, tensions, power struggles and internal conflicts.
In order to change this trend, in order to establish a constitution and to implement the principle of equal burden, we must form a Zionist coalition, without Shas parties and Torah Judaism. We must separate religion and state
. A coalition with the ultra-orthodox businessmen deceives himself and the others. I also know a claim that you cannot force people to study core studies or serve in the army or even in the civil service if they don't want to. I completely agree with this statement, but we don't have to finance them. The state should not support In those institutions and those people who act contrary to the national interest of the State of Israel.
An educational institution that does not teach core studies must not receive a single shekel from the state, just as a young man who avoids military or civil service will not be able to receive any benefit from the state, will not be able to be a civil servant, will have to pay full tuition at any academic institution, will not be able to be a board member of any A public body or company, will not receive an allowance if he studies at a yeshiva, and the yeshiva will also not receive any government support for him.
Even when they say that it is impossible to do this against the wishes of the ultra-Orthodox, I would like to mention that we speak the Hebrew language here in Israel despite the opposition of the ultra-orthodox at the time and the harassment and boycott they did to Eliezer ben Yehuda.
I would like to mention that the State of Israel was established despite the opposition of the ultra-Orthodox leadership at the time, from the Chazon Ish to the Rebbe of Brisk, none other than the Chazon Ish who determined that on the Independence Day of the State of Israel the ultra-Orthodox must pray a supplication prayer.
That is, a mourning prayer.
But I believe in the principle - the people of Israel are bound to each other.
As far as I am concerned, the ultra-Orthodox population is in captivity, they have simply been taken hostage by the cynical ultra-Orthodox businessmen who exploit them, in order to gain power, money and respect for themselves.
They forcefully keep them in poverty and without education, so that they depend on the same allowances, supports and GAMs that are provided to them by the same businessmen, and so on election day they demand that they pay off the debt and put the "correct note" in quotation marks.
I support the opposite approach, I believe that a person who has an education and has employment and has a livelihood and is confident in himself and his future, no one can dictate to him which note to put in the ballot.
Regarding Judaism as well, the leaders of Shas and Torah Judaism are the slanderers of Judaism, they act contrary to Judaism. When we turn to the sources we see that all our great leaders were warriors, Joshua ben Nun, King David, Bar Kochba, the Maccabees, and women were also warriors among them Deborah the prophetess, Judith, Yael, the wife of Heber Kini and all of them also worked, King David was a shepherd, Rambam was a full-time doctor, the old Hillel was a woodcutter and Rashi was a wine maker. Therefore, I want to bring the ultra-Orthodox population out of captivity and I want us to return to original Judaism , the real one and at the same time we will preserve the State of Israel as a Jewish, Zionist and liberal state.
I am often asked, so how will Israel be Jewish if you are in favor of the separation of religion and state?
1. Days of rest and holidays are the Sabbath and Israel's holidays.
2. The Hebrew language.
3. The symbols of the country - the national flag, the menorah, the hymn of hope, a star shaped star of David.
4. National days of mourning - the day of remembrance for the Holocaust and heroism, the day of remembrance for the martyrs of Israel's systems and hostilities.
5. Marking national dates such as the Balfour Declaration and the 19th of November, Herzl's birthday.
6. The Law of Return - the State of Israel will be open to Jewish immigration and kibbutzim.
Finally, if we are the objects of life, this is the last opportunity to implement Herzl's vision: to establish a constitution, separation Between religion and state, compulsory core studies for all and equality in full burden.
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Avigdor Lieberman
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