Why would young people and women vote for the ultra-Orthodox?

December 3, 2014   

Now it's final: the Knesset has been dissolved, the ministers have been dismissed, and in 105 days the people of Israel will go to the polls and decide the fate of the parties.

This election campaign will be different from the previous one. The Haredim, who have dried up on the opposition benches and suffered from constant harassment from members of the government, are heating up their engines and going out into the field to regain their lost honor.

This time they are on the attacking side, not the attacked side. They did not serve in the government and cannot be accused of the rising cost of living or political blackmail. This is their opportunity to prove to the citizens of the country: without us, the situation has not improved, we are not the ones with the problem here.

As with every election campaign, this time too the field is beginning to ferment, social media is abuzz, and protests are beginning to emerge from every corner.

Protests by the 'unrepresented', young people, women, 'working Haredim' and what not.

Entire groups feel that they are not adequately represented in the Knesset, that the representatives of the ultra-Orthodox parties do not exactly count them, and they are calling for them to abstain from elections or to establish new political frameworks that will restore their due respect.

To a certain extent, there is justice in this statement and there is truth in the claims.

Many young people feel that they are not properly represented in the Haredi parties. They claim that their aging representatives are already kicking up dust and are not familiar with the situation on the ground; there is no one fighting for the establishment of frameworks for young people who have dropped out of the yeshiva world; there is no one to help young Haredim who want to support their families with dignity; and there is no one to promote the issue of Haredi students in the academic world.

""The Haredi representatives represent Torah scholars, not the Haredi sector," a young Haredi man told me sadly yesterday, telling me that he intended to vote for Likud.

And there are also women's groups who feel a sense of deprivation and claim that if there are female managers and secretaries in the Knesset, there is no reason why there shouldn't be female Haredi MKs. They demand female representation on the Knesset list and in the process manage to arouse the anger of the party leaders, and even some of the Haredi party voters.

You can agree with them or you can disagree, you can also claim that Knesset members care about Haredi women, but when they ask: "Why, when there was a debate in the Knesset about the status of Haredi women, did not a single Haredi Knesset member bother to attend?" - they receive no answer.

It's not easy to feel like a disadvantaged minority. It's not fun to know that you're giving your vote to a party that doesn't represent you. But, there is a way to lead change and a way to fight the phenomenon.

The Haredi sector is not in a position to afford internal wars and the establishment of new frameworks. The threshold currently stands at 41%, and there is no chance that any minority group, no matter how large, will be able to cross the high threshold.

We are fed up with wars, we are fed up with divisions, and we paid a heavy price in the last term, because of disputes that led to destruction.

This is not the time for wars. This is the time for dialogue.

The leaders of the ultra-Orthodox parties should act wisely and invite the representatives of the groups, listen to the feelings and demands, prepare action plans and establish extra-parliamentary bodies that will deal with the burning issues. Publicly declare support and partnership with those groups and give voters a sense of belonging.

These respected groups cannot be ignored; their votes cannot be demanded at the ballot box without providing them with the necessary assistance; and it cannot be thought that voting in the Haredi sector is blind and devoid of any discretion.

In collaboration with the rabbis, the great Torah scholars, we need to find a common denominator that will give each and every one of the Haredi community, in all its factions and communities, a sense of belonging.

Just as the 'Bnei Torah' community deserves to be represented on the flag, so too do tens of thousands of Haredim working for a living deserve representation and appropriate treatment of all their needs and problems in the Haredi parties.

Only through true cooperation will we succeed in building trust between voters and elected officials - and only through unity will we win.