The ghost of Dickens has returned to peruse the Van Leer Institute study, “Haredim in the Marketplace” by Nir Fogel and Yisraela Friedman.
On the basis of a survey of 7,000 haredim (ultra-orthodox Jews), the study finds that less than half of the haredim are in work, compared with 80% of the general population. Only 30% of haredi males work, compared with 67% of males in the general population. 40% of haredi women work. Not surprisingly, a Bank of Israel study reported that 59% of Israel's 700,000 haredim, compared with 23% of the population as a whole, are living below the poverty line.
The ghost of Dickens does not want to write, “A Tale of Two Countries”. But he may have no choice. Secular Israelis have acted too long like Uncle Ralph Nickleby in “Nicholas Nickleby.” “I will put his ruin ahead of my own business.”
All sides have refused to come together to find innovative solutions to the problem of haredi poverty and unemployment. People often chuckle that it will be easier for the Palestinians and Jews to come to terms.
If only we would follow Uncle Ralph’s advice and “take an unsentimental view.” I do not understand why we are all burying our head in the sand. Self interest should rule. It is our tax dollars that are paying for the yeshiva stipends and the National Insurance Institute Child Allowances.
We need to apply the Bush administration’s slogan “leave no child behind” to the whole country. In a country of just seven million people, we can not afford to leave anyone behind. This is the brain drain that we should be concerned about.
With the release of a new study of the Koret Foundation, maybe there is a glimmer of a chance that things will change. It is entitled “Employment for the Haredim” by Sharon Ouziely and Shimon Ifrach. Ifrach is senior economic advisor to the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Employment.
This report advocates amending current legislation on deferral of army service by yeshiva students, known as the 'Tal Law' after the committee headed by former Supreme Court Justice Zvi Tal on whose recommendations the law is based. Broadly speaking, the Tal Law, enacted in 2002, institutionalizes the exemption from the draft for yeshiva students provided that they remain students. The new report recommends replacing service in the IDF with a requirement of national service. After the national service is completed, the haredim would be permitted to leave the yeshiva and go out to work.
The report argues that the repeal of the Tal Law would add 1.3 -1.5% each year to the nation’s GDP. To put this increase in perspective, Israel’s GDP grew by 5% in 2006.
The report is a jumping off point for a radical overhaul of the Tal Law. The Rabbis and haredi members of Knesset that I asked about the proposed revision indicated support. They want to break the cycle of poverty.
Those who honorably serve our country have the right to be angry about the Tal exemption. I admit that I would not know how to defend my position to a bereaved parent. I can say that it may not be fair, but it joins a long list of inequities. The world is not fair.
The anger directed at the haredim is hurting all of us and having a corrosive effect on the social fabric of this country. There has to be a statute of limitations to the anger over the exemption. Those that evade army service or reserve duty and are caught by the military police receive a finite jail sentence. The Tal Law sentences haredim to a life time of poverty.
Maybe part of the salve to those that serve in the army is a requirement that the haredim complete a longer period of community service than the current three year mandatory army term. I do not support the recommendation of the Koret study to provide a discharge grant after the community service. Defending your country and putting yourself in harm’s way is not the same as performing community service.
Being a horse trader from way back, I am not prepared to repeal the Tal Law without significant concessions from the haredi community on budget matters. The repeal and the corresponding initiative must be supported by 100% of the rabbis and community.
We need to confront the reality that the Tal Law has been a dismal failure. It has not forced haredim into the IDF. It has just institutionalized poverty. It is time for Tal Law 2.0. Let’s transform the haredi winter of despair to a spring of hope.
Laura Goldman worked on Wall Street for over twenty years for such firms as Merrill Lynch and UBS Warburg. She now runs her own investment advisory, LSG capital, from Tel Aviv. She is an independent commentator, and her views do not necessarily represent those of "Globes".
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on November 19, 2007
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