Even in his rosy dreams, MK Itamar Ben-Gvir did not believe that he would become the central figure of the 2022 elections on the Haredi street.
The scary boy from the HaK movement, the right-wing activist Lamod Kabbavot, has recently become not only a central figure in the political system, but also a darling of the Haredi sector.
It turns out that young people and adults alike see him as the right man to speak for. The 'secular' political commentators report hysteria in the headquarters of the ultra-Orthodox parties, and in the neighborhood where the ultra-Orthodox resides, a volunteer began collecting signatures from functionaries, with over fifty volunteers registering within a few hours.
How or why does this happen?
The Chief Rabbi, Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, for example, mentioned that most of the great rabbis of Israel throughout their generations have forbidden ascension to the Temple Mount [it is true, there is one respected rabbi who permits it, and by the way, there is also one respected doctor who at one time opposed polio vaccines], while Ben Gvir is acting contrary to this ruling. On the face of it, madness from an ultra-Orthodox perspective.
Where has the adherence to religious law that supposedly characterized the members of the sector gone? How do this man's sweet texts get bought by the masses?
My answer, which is not based on research, is the heartbreaking leaning of the Haredim on the right-wing side of the political map. Why is it heartbreaking? Because the Haredim, just like Ben-Gvir, did not serve in the army, did not build the state, and have never borne responsibility for its existence. United Torah Judaism, for example, refrained for years from placing a minister on its behalf in the government, and has never been asked to answer weighty, responsible questions. When the country was torn into two over the release of Gilad Shalit, no one was interested in their opinion. They did not volunteer it either.
The dominant ethos on the Haredi street was cultural entrenchment, distinct from the secular street and its holidays, which include Memorial Day and Independence Day.
But this ethos is beginning to crack. Young people, as well as adults, are exposed to Cosmo-Israeli content and now feel more involved. Technology, globalization, WhatsApp, email and Facebook have brought them to the center of the political media field and they feel that they are part of the state, they care about its existence. They love the IDF soldiers, not to mention admire them. Politics also interests them and they seek to consume it beyond the Haredi journalist's column in the weekend supplements.
For example, a few hours before writing this column, I drove four young Haredi, nice yeshiva students from Kiryat Sefer, who wanted to come to Jerusalem and visit the Knesset.
What are they looking for there? These young people are trying to translate the concern, the emotional involvement, the desire to take part in an operative act, into an active step, but then they realize that they may love the country, but they are not yet Israelis. They read the news, but they are not part of it. They vote for the Zionist Knesset, but then they accept Porush and Litzman, and when Litzman is ousted, the man appears who has the unimpressive nickname "the oppressor of kindergarteners" attached to his name. On the weekend news and talk shows, which they watch in droves, they do not meet their politicians on the leading programs, and when they are already there, they often "embarrass themselves."
It is precisely into this void that Ben-Gvir joyfully enters. He gives them everything they ask for: political involvement and active action. They feel that through him they are acting, through him they are fighting the Arab enemy.
When Ben Gvir screams at the Minister of Public Security at the scene of a terrorist attack, they are with him in their hearts, and when he visits the Temple Mount, they see him as a religious hero who brings their voice. He knows how to shout about Dana Weiss. He says he loves the people of Israel. He's crazy about IDF soldiers. They're just like them. They shouldn't be ashamed of an anarchist politician like Moshe Gafni, for example, who isn't ashamed to lie to his voters time and time again without batting an eyelid. Ben Gvir is authentic, a man of truth, and he carries a message.
But that's where the big mistake appears.
Ben Gvir certainly carries a message, and in this way he stands out from the poor and conflicted group of Torah Judaism, but the mere existence of a message is not enough.
The young Haredi are happy to find the figure who produces an orderly, coherent, and loud change, but they do not hesitate to examine its content. They must understand that the mere existence of an idea is not enough; it is more important to examine where it may lead. Here, to the great danger, the young Haredi stops his search. He does not delve into the depths of the radical doctrine of the graceful young man from Hebron; he is content with its mere existence.
So what can be done? If I were the Shas and G-D's election consultant, I would distribute Ben Gvir's platform to all Haredi centers. His in-depth recognition, and a wide-ranging discussion about him in the Haredi media, might perhaps stop the drift in the frightening and inevitable direction that this man is leading.
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