On Tuesday of this week, Prof. Alice Brezis stood in front of the home of Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf in Jerusalem together with protesters from the "Brothers in Arms" protest movement. In front of the house, the protesters scattered a pile of 200 shekel "bills." Apparently, they meant to imply, in a small way, that the ultra-Orthodox are greedy.
Prof. Brezis stood up to a casual ultra-Orthodox man and hurled insulting words at him: "You are blaspheming the name! Justice, righteousness, pursue!" and stopped at the very convenient place of the verse, before "For you may live and inherit the land which the Lord your God has given you." It was convenient for Brezis to ignore chapter 16 of Deuteronomy, from which a third of the verse is taken, in which Israel is commanded not only to pursue justice, but also to have three legs, eating matzah on Passover, and forbidding idolatry – which are no less important than the vague pursuit of justice. Offense against these is also blasphemy.
In any case, we will not be precise about the small ones. The ultra-Orthodox sector, like every sector, insists on its share of the public purse. Like other sectors, it is worth discussing its place in society, its contribution to the economy and the military, and core studies. In return, it is also worth discussing the severe lack of Jewish education in the state education system, but any such attempt is met with cries of "religion."
But the pile of banknotes at the demonstration evokes an aroma that does not arise from other discussions about sectors and money. Since the image of bearded Jews with hats and money has nevertheless gained status in Jewish history – and not in a good way – perhaps it is really worth asking: Do the ultra-Orthodox love money? Less seem to be secular. They live more modestly, from scarcer resources. Haredi cities are in the bottom third of the socioeconomic ranking. So one can certainly ask why the state should help finance a lifestyle that is less productive than the average in the economy. This is a serious question that requires a serious solution. What is not serious is to accuse the ultra-Orthodox of robbing the public purse and portray them as filling their vessels with banknotes – as Amos Biderman did in the cartoon in Haaretz – such an image is certainly a privilege reserved for the ultra-Orthodox and only for them. And you don't need the new budget. As early as December 2022, Yair Lapid knew that any ultra-Orthodox budgeting "is looting. Looting of the public purse, looting of democratic values."
Are there any other looters for the public purse besides the ultra-Orthodox? Not at all. In the 2023 budget, NIS 2.2 billion was allocated for culture and sports. Important? Absolutely. More than Torah education? Undoubtedly! Are theatre directors (including fringe), playwrights, directors, and actors greedy? What suddenly? They are totally in art for the sake of art. Higher education important? Obviously. Gender studies, law studies, and economics, as Prof. Brezis teaches at Bar-Ilan University. Therefore, NIS 12 billion was allocated to higher education in the current budget, much more than the Haredi education budget. The state funds 70 percent of university studies, but professors and faculty should not be accused of loving money, or budgetary pensions, or tenure. About them, Lieberman will not say, "The ultra-Orthodox activists in the Knesset who encourage idleness and ignorance and harm the ultra-Orthodox sector, the middle class and the Israeli economy as a whole. This is done by granting billions of shekels to educational institutions that do not teach core studies, to Avrachim and draft dodgers."
It's easy to hate Haredim for all sorts of reasons. First, they are easy to identify. Black suit, white shirt, kippah or hat. Second, they are easy to draw in black and white. The ultra-Orthodox, like the panda bear, only in reversal of emotion. The panda bear is the beloved symbol of endangered animals, and videos of pandas doing stupid things are racking up millions of views. Why? Is the panda cuter than other extinct animals? Not necessarily, but it looks great as a logo. Just as the ultra-Orthodox are not necessarily the destroyers of the public purse and equality of the burden – but they are a great logo.
Prof. Brezis of the banknote demonstration is an elite researcher. In an interview she gave to "Globes" in 2017, she had difficult things to say about them: they are based on social and family ties and prevent social mobility. According to its data, "about 70 percent of the students who enter the world's elite universities come from the upper class... The children of the elites are entering the schools of the elites, and they will be the next elite, with an emphasis on the economy." Asked if elites should represent the public, she replied: "No. Elites are supposed to make the right decisions and chart the way, so they're very important."
There are those who threaten the elites and their power: "It's true that the right is trying to enter the elite and they are slowly entering, especially since the political elite is more open than the economic one. If these elites come in, it's a matter of how many people support them; In other words, the reason is demographic."
And who is strong in demographics, if not the ultra-Orthodox? "The human capital of Haredi children is very low," she clarifies, predicting: "The infrastructures, such as transportation and health, will collapse by the time we reach 12 million... I think about how I need to influence someone at the UN on demography in different parts of the world. At the moment, the feeling is that there is no chance of talking about birth control." There really are too many Jews in the world, it's a shame there will be more.
All these clean professorial thoughts, about clean, beautiful, nepotistic and power-hungry elites, find their raw expression in anti-Haredi demonstrations in front of Goldknopf's house, in front of Rabbi Edelstein in Bnei Brak, ahead of another demonstration in Bnei Brak with an ad for "Komi Israel," in which Finance Committee Chairman Moshe Gafni is dressed in royal clothes under the headlines: "The siege of Bnei Brak - a rage march against the exploitation of public funds."
The concern for public funds is touching, but it is worth pointing the rage march to the right place: according to the State Comptroller's report from last year, four universities have a budget deficit of NIS 11 billion, of which NIS 8.9 billion is in pension liabilities. Budgetary. At the expense of the public treasury. One of the four is Bar-Ilan University, where Prof. Brezis teaches. Too bad she bothered herself all the way to Jerusalem. She could have demonstrated in her office.
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