Once many years ago I was unemployed and had to live on social assistance so I cut back on everything that was not essential.When I finally found a job that was satisfactory to my quality of life I got off social assistance and was able to go back to my regular way of life.SEE HOW IT WORKS?they can always study torah and work at the same time without public handouts.

Larry where were you when an investigation was conducted that showed the government paying yeshiovot millions of sheckels for students that didn't exist? What do you call that if not STEALING.

Who is a parasite here? Those who study and live by Torah, that which defines a Jew and that which set an example for religious thought that half the world's population lives by? The state pays for secular education also, at the secondary and at the college level. Are all these people, learning geography and radical political science parasites? And much of what people receive in life is subsidized by the government. This is just atheistic hatred of people who are continuing the Jewish life in Eretz Yisrael. Many of them work just like other people, and many of the other people don't work. Or work as bartenders, prostitutes, or other sleazy jobs. Are they parasites? This is pure sinat chinam.

IF SO...where is the attorney general's office, the police, the investigators the committees?????? Something smells ROTTEN...almost conspiritorial! Needs open investigation just like the KATSAV AND OLDEMERDE AND LIEBERMAN debacles.

It's the Arabs who are stealing your country.

his father [hate incitement] that will lead him to the same fate [short terme in Knesset] He thinks he can hide his worthless agenda by attacking Haredim. Foreign politicians do the same against Jews.. Those who curse Jews are cursed. Those who bless Jews are blessed. These are verifiable facts.

The article does not indeed herald new era. If anything the writer is only given letigimacy to the proverbial teachers of previous Horsemen of the Israel establishement: the writer ought to know the "democratic: sin quenon; it is, stupid, to protect the minority. That is the reason democracy is the defender of human rights. But lets go to the actual "teachers" of the Haredim (BYT I am secular, Jew who grew-up in a rather moderate Orthodox Jewish home) Mapai, Mapam, Akhdut Haavodah, Liberal-Progressive Party...who run the country from the time of the Yishuv till around late 1970's. They run with a zeal that approximated Ideological war, thus creating the "parasites" out of the Kibbutzim, who if the writer recall run down the treasury of the Land. The writer blame collectively a group: that is no way of translating DEMOCRACY. If you have a thief (Ehud Olmert allegedly, Hirshorn condemned.....) there is the JUSTICE SYSTEM that is there to be used. Anything else is a question of political pose, as in any country where coalitions are the norm, each component of the government tend to receive "its bribery". It is notacceptable, maybe, but that is unfortunately the norm. For the writer to blame collectively, it opens up room for lot of abuse, and of course Justification: My blood is purer than yours (to paraphrae Ben Gurion rection upon hearing that the Moroccan Jewery is coming to Israel en masse in the mid fiftyes...."Dapim Meyuman" Joe Golan ZA"). Lets not blame others for there is a lot of blame to go around: Lets reform the system, established by the signers of the Declaration Of Israel Inpependence. Lets be more of a democracy in deeds and legalese, rather than in confrotation and name throwing. New dawn is upon an Israel which be called upon to right the wrong so it becomes more secure: Security of the Nation is of the utmost importance.

The way Lapid, and some of his groupies on this site talk about them, you would think they live lavishly at the expense of hard working Israelis. Newsflash #1: Haredim are dirt poor. They make about $580 per month from the government. Not enough to pay rent in Jerusalem, let alone feed your family. They are supported by side jobs and charity. Newsflash #2: There are many people who consider learning Torah a valuable asset to the Jewish state. It's not as if they're taking welfare stipends and buying crack with it. I'm sure there are many thousand welfare recipients who do just that. Where is the outrage against them??

Ever since the state was established and Agudat Yisrael convinced Ben-Gurion to allow for the support of 400 Torah Scholars by the state, Haredi parties have taken every opportunity to blackmail successive governments into more and more concessions to the Haredim at the expense of the non-Haredi public. Students at Torani schools receive more government support per student than the mamlachti schools, whether secular or religious. This is despite the flagrant violations of not fulfilling their own part of the agreement by teaching core subjects such as sciences, math, history, etc. and by inflating the number of reported students for the purpose of determining the amount of money the government transfers to the schools. As for adults, I can find no way to justify the claim that EVERY adult Haredi male is capable and qualified to be a “Torah Scholar”—especially in light of the fact that the Rabbanut has resisted new interpretations of rules for decades with the excuse that a quorum of 12 “Torah Sages” must be convened to make any changes, and “who is to decide who is a “Torah Sage”? Just as not all secular people are university material, not all Haredim are material for a lifetime of Torah study with the supposed intent of becoming a “Torah Scholar”. Every day, all over the world, student counselors advise students to change the discipline they study or leave university altogether to pursue a different career entirely. Are Haredim exempt from this intellectual diversity? To #7 specifically: Those who chose to follow a different “brand” of Judaism than yours are NOT “goyim”—and they are the Jews who have kept you safe while you “zugt Tehilim”. It is the people who take from the state and don’t contribute who bring disaster upon the nation. Simple arithmetic can tell even the dullest idiot that you have to deposit more into a bank account than you take out of it, in order to avoid going into an overdraft. Where do those who accept money from the government for whatever reason (and yes, there are also seculars who “work the system” and receive welfare payments, handicapped allowances and other benefits they don’t actually deserve), but don’t contribute think that the government’s money comes from? Do they think that God prints it for the government as it needs it? No, that money comes from taxes in their various forms. If an entire sector of the public doesn’t contribute to that cash drawer, logic would say that the same sector doesn’t deserve to receive money from that cash drawer, either. I have no complaint with those Haredim who actually work, pay taxes and Bituah Leumi and contribute their fair share to the budget of the state. I DO have an issue, a serious one, with those Haredim who think that they’re doing the secular a “favor” by taking their welfare money and raising children who will be useless in future labor markets. The time to call it what it really is has come, and if some don’t like the way the shoe fits, they can change it by contributing to the state they live in the way seculars and their own responsible neighbors do—by working for a living, by bringing children into the world intelligently and not assuming that “God will provide (and if He doesn’t, then the state will)”, and by ceasing to spread the sinat hinam. It wasn’t the secular who said that drafting Haredim would cause a civil war, was it? Look to your rabbis, decide if they are really learned men worthy of being teachers, or just venal con artists selling you a bill of goods while they remain in power.

There is no doubt that Israel is again in the crossroads of becoming two peoples - two Jewish nations (the Haredi and the rest of the Jews) is because of this that is so important that the leadership finds ways to bridge and unite this two groups, or we may end up destroying Israel in the process. What is needed won’t happen unless it is by force (and by force I mean this will be hard and won’t be easy to accept changes to the ways things had been done to this point, also there is no need to use derogatory terms that will only be unproductive during this process), We know this because as time has passed the groups are distancing themselves even more; Leaders on both sides either Rabbis or other know this is needed, even do some of them would not say so. What is needed is: 1) That everybody in Israel Haredi or not receives an education that includes secular subjects (Mathematics, English, History, etc…) besides their Torah studies if they decide to. 2)That everybody in Israel (including the Haredi , and also allow the Israeli Arabs to joint for civil service if they decide to do so) to do the military or civil service not because the Army needs so many Soldiers ( the wars of the future are not going to be won with numbers but with well train soldiers and technology), but because the service in the Army is the greatest education and melting pot of Jews from different backgrounds to know ,share and respect each other & on the way to appreciate and love respect Israel and its different members, Also they will learn to work on as team, etc…, Allowing Torah students luminaries to be exempt and continue their studies (the majority of us are not a Torah student luminary). 3) That the non Haredi learn to respect and value as equals Haredi on the work force and the work place. Am Israel is the total sum of its parts, we are supposed to help and support each other We need the religious Jew that keeps the Shabbat and the Torah light, we need the regular Jew that works a simple Job, we need the Teacher that teaches at the universities, we need the soldier that defends Israel, we need every one. 4) It took years to get to this situation and it will take years to get to a point like in New York that the Haredi study both Torah and a career, and were the majority work and study. Israel should not take away all of the help the Haredi schools or families received, but should receive something in exchange (like schools that teach x% of secular subjects will keep receiving government funding, or yeshivas that have students that evaded army service or civil service or were not exempted from them, will be penalized in not receiving state funds, support and help from the government to families in poverty related to the number of kids should stay) all of these will should be equal for Haredi or none Haredi Jews. 5) Civil marriage should be able to be made possible for any- body that will like to marry in Israel. 6) Finally anybody that does not realize that we need all and every single Jewish kid Haredi or not that is born in Israel, does not realize that without them there will be no Jewish State of Israel 25-50 years from now. Because Israeli Arabs fertility rate is a lot higher than non Haredi Jewish fertility rate, that is just a fact. So is in the best interest of the Jewish state of Israel and the Jews of the world to support any new born, whether is with financial assistance, health insurance, education, and whatever is needed for them to become a helpful member of the Israeli society (A Worker, Rabbi, Teacher, Entrepreneur, Soldier, Student, Mother, etc.)

they are human beings, and need to support themselves if they want to pray and study. religous people are supposed to be moral, and not sponge off others.

Bravo! Care to vent a little spleen about the Arabs (Christian and Moslem alike) who don't pull their weight, either?

How about the billions of dollars that go to Israel from our pockets??? Do I think the people of Israel are stealing for years?? Do I think your a bunch of blood sucking worms??? No way!! We know that we have to support whats right and support Israel with billions of $ a year. All this hate for the Haradim makes me sick, is everything perfect the way it is now? No. Do things need to change? Yes, but remember where you came from know that all your grandparents where "Haradi". With all this hate among brothers I fear for the people of Israel. You must all get along and stop this hate!!

KEEPS THE GRIFTERS ON THEIR TOES and allows "other" thinking. Fresh thinking and different perspectives are NOT the enemy....croneyism, favoritism graft and theft go by the wayside when there is OVERSIGHT instead of closed door deals.

Not writing on Facebook on Shabat is not an 'ultra-orthodox' opinion. It is a transgression of Torah Law, and the reason why Am Yisrael returned to Eretz Yisrael is because of Torah. If you don't believe in Torah being true, why are you living in Israel?

Ben Gurion didn't want the Haredim in the army or for them to integrate. He offered them a free pass on conscription thinking the Haredi community would assimilate (Lapid's words, not mine) Today the Haredim are a large constituency in Israel, and they probably should start integrating, but make no mistake, they've done nothing wrong or illegal. They held up their end of the bargain, while the secular establishment reneged.

You deplore Haredim for extorting handouts from you but see nothing wrong of you milking Uncle Sam and Helmut ,...

Sure, funding for "torani" education and kollels and the rabbanut have no doubt contributed to the deficit as have university subsidies, defense and a multitude of other budget allocations. Mr Henig is smoking something strong if he thinks we got into a serious deficit simply by giving the haredim money. He tries to pretend that the tax hikes in the forms of vat, income and others combined with cutting off the "haredi" subsidies will only hurt the haredim. He is very wrong its the same ' silent majority, comprised mainly of the middle class and the poor – cheered him on from home' that will feel the pinch of higher taxes by the same Mr. Lapid he claims they are cheering on. His agenda from the headline to the last words is a rant against the orthodox.

I appreciate your sentiments and your concern, but please allow me to correct your notions of how United States foreign aid to Israel is structured. 1. A relatively small amount takes the form of interest-bearing cash loans. Only two countries have a perfect repayment record. Finland is one. Israel is the other. 2. A somewhat larger amount takes the form of military credits. These credits must be spent in the United States, and the contracts with the American companies all carry a back-end provision which requires Israel to make available to the American manufacturers all enhancements and improvements made to the military hardware purchased. These enhancements and improvements have been legion, and all have been shared. 3. By far and away the largest amount takes the form of joint-venture investment capital (for which American joint venturers receive a tax benefit and the United States reaps the benefit of what these joint ventures have produced). Did you know that Intel's largest Research and Development facility is in Israel? Odds are that if you own a computer with Intel chips (that would be most computers), those chips were developed in Israel. Do you own a mobile phone? That is the result of a joint venture between Motorola and an Israeli telecommunications start-up. Facial recognition software that is so essential to keeping known terrorists from entering the country? That, too, was developed in Israel. Seventy percent of the chemotherapy protocols in use throughout the world today were developed in Israel. The foregoing is just the short list. Israeli companies and, in fact, Rafael, the weapons-production division of Israel's Ministry of Defense has joint ventures with Boeing, Raytheon and General Dynamics, to name but a few. Whatever aid Israel receives from the United States is an investment in quality and a vast return on investment. Please do not make the mistake of thinking that the aid package to Israel in any way, shape or form resembles the billions of dollars in cash and free arms that the United States pours into Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan, Iraq and a whole host of other nations whose intentions toward the United States are less than friendly. (Need one say more than point out that Osama bin Laden was sheltered by the Pakistani government for a decade?) Pouring tens of billions of dollars, and free high-end armaments besides, is both the equivalent of pouring money into a black hole and a stupid move, given the instability of nearly all of those countries.

And full of lies. "Billion shekels are allocated to the kollels". Where he took this figure? The source please! "hundreds of millions more are transferred to religious councils and public institutions". Gross exageration! Besides these councils and institution serve not the charedim, but rather the public at large including the seculars. The unbiased reader, please believe me: the charedim give more to the state than they take from it. To mention only the volunteer organizations such as "Yad Sarah", "Hatzala", "Hesed shel Emet", etc. Most charedim do work and many serve in the army. Do you know that 10 percent of the soldiers voted for SHAS and Yehadut ha-Torah? All the rest is lies and incitement. A new sort of antisemitism has been created in Israel.

If this is a such a good deal why don't I see any business oriented countries waiting in line to take our place ,... By the way you have a perfect repayment record because before Congress approves a new loan it writes it off the previous one ,... To find out how Israel is getting those so called 'joint ventures' google: "U.S. and Israel agree to develop plan to boost trade" - Needless to say, it's a forced marriage, a one way street and usually ends like the one with Boeing in Seattle and other companies with their branches in Israel running back pissed off of your work ethics, corruption and bureaucracy - It goes like this, if you want government contract, a tax brake or subsidies be nice to Israelis open your branch there and share technology ,...

a certain segment of the population but real drastic economical measures.Increasing the minimum wage , building new affordable homes etc.By the way I think that the ruling elite has stolen more from the state and the people than anybody else.To keep our country Jewish is also very important.I will be happy that my hard earned tax money is spent for this purpose instead of other purposes : Bringing non-jews into this land from Russia etc.

Solomon, are you saying that the only thing Jews have in common is Orthodoxy? We are the same ethnicity, we share the same history, blood, language and culture. You have no more right than anyone else Jewish to live in Israel. And yes, we also have in common our ancestral religion- which in our modern age, thank GOD, individuals have the freedom to practice or not as they wish!

Moshe - surely you can see the difference between funding of religion, and funding education, health and defense! The latter are essential to the running of the state. The former is funding a personal lifestyle choice. Why should the state subsidise grown, able bodied men? I remember well about 10 years ago when pensions to our aged and disabled in Israel were cut severely, but, because of political pressure by Charedim, able-bodied avrechim kept their kollel pensions from the government!

I was not comparing the funding of religion, (though last time I checked I was still living in the "Jewish" state) to defense or health needs. All things being equal a school aged child should receive the same budget allocation for education regardless of if his education is in mamlachti, torahni or madras (Islamic). Though I disagree, even if they stop learning math or whatever the student is still entitled to his allocation. After all it is a parents choice how to educate and raise a child even if we don't agree. And I think that cuts do need to be made to the budget in general. For example cutting Kolel stipends, but do I believe that doing away with them completely? No, I think that certain requirements must be met and a maximum number of years that you can get it. Because I believe its important to Jewish continuity etc. Blaming the haredi community for all the problems, as if giving monies to yeshiva, kollel etc over the past 30 years or so somehow magically dug us a into a huge pit of deficit and somehow no one ever noticed is lunacy. Because I am sure that excess in every budget of the past however many years and administrations left, right and center is what got us into this mess.

and you're still defiantly anti-science ignoramuses who think Mosheh contemplated voltages, DC vs AC, resistance and wattages, TVs and computers -- that wouldn't exist for another 3.5 millennia -- and then proclaimed in a majestic booming voice: "These are living spheres that run by fire sparks. Therefore thou shalt not kindle them on Shabbat!" The prohibition of electricity originated during our parents lifetime, in the 20th century -- contradicting the Torah of Mosheh (Dt. 13.1, et al.). For any rabbi(s) to presume to override the Torah of Mosheh with a contradictory decree is to presume to be a higher authority than Mosheh and ha-Sheim. Such are rebelling against Torah. Torah reflects the Singularity-Creator of the universe. The laws of His creation (the universe) -- physics, chemistry and other hard sciences as well as the reality of documented history, geology and archeology -- reflect their Creator and, therefore, must be in harmony with His Instruction (Hebrew: Torah). Anti-science ignorance is farther from Torah and ha-Sheim than Muslims and Christians. It's educated moderate Jews -- not over-the-top and off-the-rails Ultra-Orthodox -- who must restore Torah to a modern and future-proof dynamic whose principles and values Mosheh would recognize. Chief rabbis have, as their source authority, the Ottoman Empire. Talmud documents that the Kohanim have been, since the Romans destroyed the yukhasin in the 2nd & 3rd centuries, merely a ceremonial remembrance (Qidushin 70b).