Exactly one month ago, a meeting was held in the Knesset that provided the Haredi MKs with the opportunity to show that there is no point or need in electing Haredi women to serve as MKs. The meeting dealt with the health of Haredi women, and the disgraceful situation they find themselves in in terms of mortality from women's cancer and life expectancy in general.Full protocol here).
At that meeting, the Haredi Knesset members could have demonstrated that Haredi women are represented, that their interests are well-placed in the order of priorities, and that they are aware of all their various problems to the point that they are several steps ahead of everyone else in finding solutions. Unfortunately, this was not the case – far from it.
At the same meeting, where doctors were quoted as saying about Haredi women that "they die like flies for me," there was not a single Haredi MK for medicine. When data was presented showing that the life expectancy of Bnei Brak women is among the lowest in the country, not a single hat was seen in the hall belonging to those who claim to care for those women.
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In the meeting where they discussed the fact that the death rate of Haredi women from cancer is double that of the general population, the matter-of-fact voice of Mr. Benny Rabinowitz from Yated was not heard, firmly asking for solutions to be sought. When it became clear that there were almost no studies on the subject due to the lack of cooperation from the population, the cries of Rabbi Blau calling for boycotting those responsible for the situation were not heard.
MK Litzman's voice was not heard, explaining that the matter had been presented to the elders and was being handled, and even MK Gafni's incessant talk about how it was somehow Yesh Atid's fault was not heard. There were only women present, who care about women's issues.
If there was shame in the world, the ultra-Orthodox MKs would stand in a group in the city square, beating their chests with cries of our sin, our transgression, our crime. They should come before their sisters, mothers, wives, and daughters and ask them to run for the Knesset and take care of women's issues - because they have failed.
If there was shame in the world, they would at least commit that even if a woman does not sit among them, they will take care of the issue, will not let up, will deal with it at least as long as they deal with other issues. If there was shame, the Haredi public (men and women) would let out a cry of rage at those MKs who abandon the health of Haredi women and leave their care to MK Aliza Lavie of Yesh Atid.
Maklev's response
But unfortunately there is no shame, and when there is no shame there are excuses. When MK Maklev was asked why the Haredi members of Knesset were not present at the meeting, the reason was clear: "[Knesset Member Aliza Lavie] has never promoted anything for the Haredi public, but quite the opposite. She consistently causes direct and indirect harm to the Haredi public. Therefore, it never occurred to us to cooperate in any way, even in appearance.".
MK Maklev, therefore, decided not to help MK Lavi help with the health of Haredi women because she does not help Haredi women, and therefore it is not appropriate to cooperate with her when she tries to help Haredi women. A logical response indeed.
And the public? There is no shame in it either. Excuses are made and anger is rising. Anger at women, of course. For threatening, for breaking barriers, for not being Haredi, for washing dirty laundry outside, for not listening to the elders of the generation, and so on and so forth.
So, just before the reactions, the slander, the slander, and the boycotts begin, and before Rabbi Levi starts wholesale removing children from their Talmud and women from their husbands, a second before that, I have a few questions for you:
Why aren't you angry at elected officials who ignore a situation in which quotes like "They're dying like flies to me" cloud an entire community of ultra-Orthodox women? Why is the anger only directed at those who are trying to prevent the situation, and what would you have done differently?
If there is one thing that that meeting represented, it was the fact that Haredi women have unique interests, which are blatantly and completely neglected. Moreover, the response (or lack of response) to that blatant absence proved that such neglect has no public cost, as long as the absent Knesset members direct half of the criticism against Yesh Atid.
This lack of representation becomes more blatant as public disregard for that absence increases – something that can be seen from the almost complete disregard of the Haredi media outlets for that meeting. So, what do you think about the women's desire for representation, if at the time of their distress, the Haredi MKs who received their votes were absent, thus requiring them to continue to wallow in their problems?
Shani Keinan, student of philosophy, economics and political science at the Hebrew University
