Though Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, the German philosopher, is not known primarily for his humor, he apparently had occasional pithy moments. “We learn from history,” Hegel said, “that we do not learn from history.”
This would be a good week to promise ourselves that we will prove Hegel wrong. For with all the machinations surrounding Binyamin Netanyahu’s compromise haredi- draft bill and his having (apparently) eviscerated Kadima, we risk losing sight of the potentially lethal issues lurking just below the surface. Though the week’s events have been almost entertaining, we would be far better served by reflecting not on them, but on both the American Civil War and Israel’s own defining moment, the sinking of the Altalena in June 1948.
What could the American Civil War possibly have to say about what used to be called the Plesner issue? At the time of America’s creation, the Founding Fathers knew that there was one issue they dared not address. Slavery was more than a matter of the South’s economy; it was the point on which fundamental American values clashed. On the one hand, the emerging United States was committed to “liberty and justice for all,” but on the other hand, a commitment to private property rights and the limited nature of government meant that those Founding Fathers who opposed slavery could not force the issue.
Interestingly, in an early draft of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson included a passage condemning slavery, but he blamed slavery on the British, thus hoping to raise the moral issue without attacking the South. But even that, the Founding Fathers understood, would ignite a dangerous fuse. They omitted the paragraph, leaving the slavery issue to fester until civil war ripped the United States apart. At the time of the war, the survival of the union was by no means a foregone conclusion.
Today’s haredi issue is also one of economics, morality and the sustainability of our fragile union. Everyone outside the haredi community understands that the current system is economically unsustainable. With more than half of haredim living in abject poverty (because they refuse to work), with the rest of us supporting the ultra-Orthodox through taxes, and with a large and growing community not contributing to Israel’s GNP, something has to change if Israel is not to become a third-world economy.
Morally, it is an obvious outrage that the haredim are protected by our sons and daughters, yet do nothing themselves to help protect this country, and worse, too often show blatant derision for the young men and women whose service makes haredi life possible. What has emerged is not only grossly unfair; it is a crass violation of the mamlachtiyut – being a state – that was at the heart of David Ben-Gurion’s world.
Ironically, though, it was Ben-Gurion himself who sowed the seeds of this problem by giving exemptions to a few hundred survivors of the Shoah. Ben-Gurion assumed that they would soon die out and that a society-wide ethic of devotion to the state would replace them. He was obviously grossly mistaken. While Ben- Gurion gave exemptions to some 400 young men in the early years of the state, the number of those today who do not serve approaches 40,000.
Is it too late? The haredi leadership has warned that if the Plesner law, or anything like it, is passed, they will take to the streets. They will boycott Israeli products. Cities will burn, they promise. Did Ben-Gurion, like Thomas Jefferson, unwittingly steer us in the direction of a painful and possibly bloody conflict?
Before we reply, “Yes, it’s worrisome, but let’s not exaggerate, because Jews will not fire on each other,” we ought to recall the Altalena, the Irgun Zva’i Leumi boat loaded with arms over which David Ben-Gurion and Menachem Begin disagreed so bitterly. Mention the Altalena, and Israelis tend to think of the image of the boat burning just off the Tel Aviv shore, civilians looking on impassively as if what they were watching was a fireworks show, and Begin’s courageous demand of his men that they not ignite a civil war. “Jews do not fire on Jews,” both former-Irgun and Hagana men yelled in the streets of Tel Aviv.The sobering irony is that as they were yelling “Jews do not fire on Jews,” Jews were actually shooting at other Jews. The shooting in the Altalena story was not limited to the firing on the ship. The longsimmering hatred between Ben-Gurion and Begin, which continued for decades, had reached a breaking point. Upon hearing that the Altalena was docking at Kfar Vitkin, former Irgun members abandoned their army units and went to cheer Begin. It was more than Ben-Gurion could take, and the results were catastrophic. In the streets of Tel Aviv and Jaffa, Jews opened fire on each other.Drafting people is not sufficient, the Altalena episode ought to remind us; draftees can also desert. Perhaps drafting all of the haredim is not the answer, and national service that would provide them with real-world skills would make more sense. The IDF does not need more soldiers, the brass consistently acknowledges; what we really need is a shared social and national ethos, and Israel is a very long way from having one.
When matters reach the boiling point, it is almost inevitable that both sides will make mistakes. Yes, some former Irgun members deserted their units, but because of his hatred for Begin, Ben-Gurion seemed determined to sink the ship even if it no longer posed a threat to the primacy of the IDF. Some of Ben-Gurion’s allies in the Knesset, believing that he had become irrational about the ship, and asked him in the plenum, “Even if the boat sails back into international waters, you will still want to sink it?” “Yes,” Ben-Gurion replied.
And he did. Hagana men were killed. Irgun men died. Valuable munitions that the fledgling state could not afford to lose were destroyed. The ship sank, and was later dragged out to sea.
The carcass of the Altalena has recently been located, and there are plans to raise it. It’s an appealing idea, not only because it would be a fascinating historical artifact, but because it would serve as a sobering reminder of the mistakes we dare not repeat. Jefferson’s legacy ought to teach us that emerging societies do not have the luxury of ignoring existential disagreements on core societal issues. But the Altalena reminds us that if we move too quickly or assertively, Jews can shoot at other Jews. (They fired on each other, we would do well to recall, in large measure over disagreements as to who would defend this state.)
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Dr. Daniel Gordis is Senior Vice President of the Shalem Center, where he is also a senior fellow. The author of numerous books on Jewish thought and currents in Israel...
The Jewish State must end, say its enemies, from intellectuals like Tony Judt to hate-filled demagogues like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Even average Israelis are wondering if they wouldn't be better off somewhere else. 
Your comparison between a potential showdown with the Haredim and the American Civil War is both relevant and disingenuous at the same time. It’s relevant because it’s always important to remember how far fundamental disagreement can go. It’s problematic however for two reasons; first the American Founding Fathers did not deal with it either as part of the Declaration of Independence or as part of their writing of the constitution because they needed Southern support, which they would not get if they dealt with the slavery. Of course within this difference there is also a parallel. At the time of the founding of the American nation before the cotton gin was discovered many believed that the institution of slavery was doomed, and therefore why deal with a situation, which would die out in any case. Similarly Ben Gurion believed that the Haredim would die out so why deal with the problem. Of course the biggest difference is that the Southern States were independent legal actors with militia and access to weapons, something thank goodness the Charedim do not have. In the worse case scenario we could see massive civil disobedience if a true confrontation happened.
The more relevant question is- is it possible to avoid that confrontation forever- I doubt it, and if there needs to be confrontation the sooner the better, for demography is not working in favor of the non-Charedim in our society. Ten or twenty years from now that confrontation will much more difficult and we will be a much poorer and angrier society.
An observation – we need to be careful, here. As we discuss how to deal with the inequities in Israeli society, we should be perhpas more circumspect when making blanket statements about “the Haredim”. It is all too easy to stereotype and then tilt at the caricatures we have constructed. Yes, we must often make generalizations in order to conduct any meaningful conversations about society in general. However, we must also remember the weaknesses inherent in those genralizations. There are many Haredim who own and run thriving businesses. The Haredi community has myriad charitable organizations and structures that are models worthy of emulation in any society. There are many Haredim have served and do serve in the IDF depsite the challenges of serving in the IDF can pose to their lifestyle – and the challenges of serving in the IDF to that lifestyle should not be cavalierly dismissed. The Haredi community is not monolithic (although it may appear so to those on the outside) and referring to it as such is fraught with danger.
“Today’s haredi issue is also one of economics, morality and the sustainability of
our fragile union”. True enough. But to solve the issue, we don’t need images of Israeli policemen dragging Haredim off to civilian/army service. The economic truth is that the Haredi model is impossible and that a silent minority (or even majority) would gladly work if it wasnt for their extremist Rabbis and community leaders. They only survive because of payouts that their religious parties ensure for them. We need a centrist coalition able to be formed without religious parties that stops payments and welfare to their yeshivot and kollelim. If that happens, its either a choice between starving or work. Thats why its so sad that Netanyahu and even more so Mofaz let petty politics destroy a golden opportunity.
Sir,
Mr. Gordis appears to have contrived his article to endorse Haredi exemption from required service in the IDF.
“The haredi leadership has warned that if the Plesner law, or anything like it, is passed, they will take to the streets. They will boycott Israeli products. Cities will burn, they promise.”
Please cite the appropriate passages in Jewish holy texts to justify such rebellion. Does Mr. Gordis imagine that the Israeli police and IDF would simply watch?
“America barely survived its civil war … “
Wrong. Historian Shelby Foot pointed out, ‘the North fought the war as though it had one arm tied behind its back.’
“Drafting people is not sufficient, the Altalena episode ought to remind us; draftees can also desert.”
Yes, and deserters are usually thrown into prison, for ‘desertion under fire,’ for a long time.
Mr. Gordis makes many projections from the single case of the Altalena. At that time, the survival of Israel as a democracy was at stake. Not now.
Does not Israel allow Haredim to volunteer to serve? Invite Haredim women. Offer the same post – service advantages as other veterans. See how many join. If too few, offer more incentives.
Offer to relocate the Haredi to New York. Include one season of tickets to Yankee Stadium.
If they refuse, offer IDF uniforms.
If they still refuse, in the next war, put the Haredim in the front line. Let their prayers defend them.
Those who demand full services from a state but refuse to defend their citizenship and birthright are usually called traitors.
Civil service is fine. But they have to earn their keep! This is a problem in the US also, but on a much smaller scale. I live in an area that’s teeming with ultra-orthodox. They know how to milk the system, but contrubute very little. Worse yet, they don’t observe any national holidays, like Thanksgiving. There is never a flag visible on July 4th…When you live in a country, avail yourself of all the benefits, some respect should be shown. Also, to non-Jews, we are all the same.
The same is true for Israel: You want the benefits–there is a price to pay. National service would be appropriate. And the sooner, the better.
Gershom Gorenberg, in his book The Unmaking of Israel makes exactly the same point and dedicates his first chapter to the Altalena, Daniel Gordus’ point of departure. But in addition to the potential for civil war found in the zionist-haredi fault-line he also identifies the secular Zionist and religious (messianic) Zionist schism. It turns out, that both the haredi and religious zionist communities are guilty of delegitimizing the secular state of Israel when it doesn’t serve their goals… and that, combined with the Israeli-Arab population means that a significant portion of Israel’s own population questions the very legitimacy of the state… this is a perfect storm for the civil war that Gordis foretells…
Great article. More fundamentally, however, are the reasons for the Charedims’ unwillingness or inability to contribute to society. Primary, the intermingling of the shul and state. If they, or anybody else, want to pursuit a particular lifestyle, it should be done at their expense. These communities should support themselves, their rabbis and religious institutions, without subsidies from the state. Admittedly, that will never happen, and will it does, thousands of mediocre minds will continue to study.