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Part Four - Judaism, Culture and State

The State of Israel and its Institutions
The Obligation of State Institutions to Jewish Law

All state institutions and all government organizations will be continue to run according to Jewish law as accepted by the People of Israel in the areas of Shabbat, holidays, and kashrut, as a simple and fundamental expression of the State of Israel being a Jewish State.

This does not constitute a compromise designed to allow the integration of the religious in these and other institutions, but rather, is a basic and simple national principle: Official institutions of the state of Israel will not act on behalf of the state against Jewish law as accepted by the People of Israel with no reason. That would conflict with the status of the state as a representative of the people for the sake of whom it exists and operates.

This is actually the current situation, but the way in which this reality is perceived in Israel is not helpful for ending the overall struggle on the dimensions and areas of coercion. That is why this principle, which really should be completely basic, has become a political question that periodically provokes a public outcry.

Against this barren process, which has lasted almost 100 years, the principle of the commitment of state institutions to Jewish law is not the first step in imposing religious law on the entire country. Just the opposite: precisely because governmental institutions are governmental, they are obligated to Jewish law, and if they weren't governmental, they would not be bound by it.

With the same certainty with which we insist that the Knesset cafeteria food must be kosher, we must also insist that a private business owner should have the freedom to choose whether or not to provide kosher food for his company. With the same certainty with which we insist that Israel Railways and the electric company (so long as they constitute parts of the government) observe Shabbat in their regular operations, so too do we insist that the state not determine if private companies and factories are permitted to work on Shabbat. This choice should be in the hands of the local communities.

Israel Defense Forces

Lifestyle

As was rightly determined by David Ben-Gurion and Rabbi Shlomo Goren in the period during which the IDF was being established[4], the food served in the IDF will be kosher and Sabbath observance in the IDF will be government-endorsed and mandatory for operational activities. An order requiring violation of the Sabbath for no operational reason will be considered a patently illegal order[5] that justifies refusal of that order[6]. Similarly, in the framework of military service, the right to maintain a lifestyle that is committed to Jewish law without being attacked for it, will be guaranteed by the military.

This basic framework, which was a compromise designed to allow religious soldiers to serve in the IDF in ordinary – not separate – units, is not a compromise. Rather, it is a mandatory reality from a moral, national, and governmental perspective. A national framework that represents the People of Israel on the one hand, but on the other hand drafts everyone into service by coercion, is clearly obligated to provide all who join its ranks conditions in accordance with the beliefs of their Jewish culture.

Education Force and Jewish Consciousness

On the other hand, the use of the military in recent years, and in the past, to re-educate the soldiers, turning the military into the hottest battlefield in the State of Israel between trends of secularization and trends of returning to religious observance - misses the point of the military's role.

An existential national framework such as the military, which enjoys the exclusive right of forced recruitment of the public is not entitled to engage in coercive education of those who join its ranks beyond what a fighting spirit necessitates. The army is not a place for mandatory attendance at inspirational assemblies leading up to the High Holy Days, as was done in the fifties; nor is it the place for mandatory workshops on democracy, pluralism and equality, as is the case today. The role of the IDF's educational system is to boost the fighting spirit and instill the ethics of fighting in the soldiers. Nothing more, nothing less[7].

Mixed Army Units

Zehut's approach towards this issue is similar to its attitude towards education. The IDF's job is to win wars and maintain the security of the State of Israel. It is not its role to serve either as a melting pot or a human laboratory. The criteria by which to test the essential suitability of women for combat roles is first and foremost operational.

On the other hand, the manner of the integration of women with men in combat roles in particular, and the army in general, must be carried out keeping in mind the moral world of the all the soldiers, and the norms of modesty to which society is committed. There is no reason at all to require a soldier to hear women sing, and there is certainly no justification for requiring soldiers to serve in mixed units that do not allow them to maintain minimal conditions of modesty.

However, women may be integrated into all military roles that do not cause operational harm, will benefit the military in its duties, and will not make it impossible to serve due to boundaries of modesty and Jewish law[8]- as long as the model of conscription practiced today continues[9].

Fewer Government Companies – Less Coercion

The reality in which the public transportation companies, the railway, and El-Al are fully or partially government organizations – is responsible for the fact that these organizations are shut down on Shabbat, thereby depriving those interested in their services of their mobility. So long as these organizations operate on taxpayer money and represent the official State of Israel – they cannot ignore all that is involved in this representation.

When these companies are privatized and the market will opened to private companies, the question of their operation on Shabbat will be subject to local communities[10] rather than to mandatory state law. In this way the sting will be taken out of the question of its coercion and deprivation, and we will also be able to enjoy the economic benefits of privatization.

[4] Contrary to the opinion of the religious (part of the then National Religious Party) and secular (Mapam headed by Zisling), who both acted against these conclusions, and did not see in the unity of the People of Israel a value worthy of effort or compromise.

[5] Also per the determination of David Ben-Gurion regarding the position of Chief Military Rabbi, Rabbi Shlomo Goren against Chief of Staff Haim Laskov.

[6] On the other hand, Jewish law states clearly that carrying out necessary military orders on Shabbat, and even on Yom Kippur, is a commandment that must be fulfilled.

[7] All military units should contribute, directly or indirectly, to the purpose for which they exist, defense of the State of Israel. There is no place in the IDF to conduct activities unrelated to the purpose of the existence of the IDF, which is fighting to defend the state or to deter the enemy from fighting.

[8] Night guard duty and nighttime patrols in pairs, as well as mixed sleeping in the field are just some of the situations that arise when men and women serve together in combat roles. The norms that the army enforces in rear-line units are inapplicable within the framework of field units.

[9] In this regard, it should be noted that as long as the existing conscription model continues, we must enable and encourage the existence of tracks and units with a higher level of separation, in order to enable acceptable service conditions for the Haredi population.

[10] The question of local communities is not relevant to Ben Gurion Airport.