Thousands of Israelis are camping out on the nation’s streets, protesting over the country’s acute shortage of affordable housing. Reading through a useful story from JTA, I was struck by this comment:
“What is very troubling for Netanyahu is that this is not a left wing versus right wing protest. It’s one of the few issues that cuts across all political spectrums,” said Sam Lehman-Wilzig, a Bar-Ilan University political scientist.
He noted that in Israel it’s unusual for socioeconomic issues to take priority over political-security issues.
Netanyahu “is definitely nervous,” Lehman-Wilzig said, “and he should be nervous.”
Here, in three sentences, is the explanation for the collapse of Israel’s Labor Party. Founded by David Ben-Gurion as Mapai, an acronym for “Israel Worker’s Party,” it built the social democratic foundations of the country’s welfare state. But it now lacks any coherent philosophy. A few years ago, Ehud Barak followed his election as party head by buying a multimillion dollar condo in Tel Aviv.
Why do tends of thousands of working-class Mizrahi and Russian Jews vote Likud or Shas? Because Labor gives them nothing to vote for. Now, when thousands march for affordable housing, what passes for the Israeli “left” has nothing to say. Ben-Gurion and the rest Israel’s founders would be appalled.
Hits sortta close to home, eh Barack?
Israel has been devoting an ever-increasing percentage of its GDP to (1) settlers and (2) subsidies to orthodox Jews (many orthodox men don’t work or have make-work jobs in state-subsidized religious schools). The people who actually contribute to the economy - the young, educated scientists and engineers in the Tel Aviv to Haifa corridor - get almost nothing from the State and they’re getting tired of it. So, yes, in fact this is a highly political issue.
To Bloix (and others who might not understand):
There is a huge difference in Israel between the ULTRA-Orthodox and the “Orthodox”. You meant “ultra-Orthodox” (Haredim), most of whom don’t work etc. The “Orthodox” (many of them, bit not most, part of the settler movement), are fully integrated into Israeli society. They all work, go to college, and above all, serve in the Army in higher percentages than the secular! Indeed, the Army is getting a bit worried about the “over-representation” of the Orthodox among the Officer Corps.
Bottom line: do not confuse the (Zionist) Orthodox with the (anti, or non-Zionist) ultra-Orthodox.
Sam:
Could you please clarify how many of the Haredim are anti-Zionist, non-Zionist, and Zionist? It is OK if you do not have exact percentages of the categories. If you have good approximations, that would be helpful.