One of the major problems in Israel today is the divide between religious and secular. Religious freedom also is the right not to be religious. Israel is a democratic country that recognises all jews from all countries and all levels or religious observance or not. However some extreme elements of the religious want to live their life according to Halacha (jewish law as specified in the Torah) and this will always lead to a clash. Thats fine, but they cannot impose that on others who are unwilling to accept that. But on the other hand its also their right to lead their life according to the Torah and to be fullfilled by its teachings.lets hope we can all find a way to live along side eachother as a divided Israel is a weak Israel.

I could understand that religious people want it , some separation . So they would not be disturbed on Shabbat and feasts by the non religious behaviour . But in what do religious disturb seculars ?

Only the secular country can be the garant of the religious freedom. The Halaha or Sharia state - never.

come to certain neighborhoods in Jerusalem like Rehavia, Old Katamon, the German Colony, and Baaka. Every shade of religious and secular type people live together in complete harmony. When you seperate everyone, you get people who view the other like a different species, without any understanding that we have so much more in common that not. And I beg to differ with talkback #1, who calls those living according to Halacha "extremeists". There are many people who choose to live according to Halacha that are not extreme in any way. They go to work, the army, pay taxes, take their kids to the movies, sit in cafes, shop in malls, travel etc. there is no reason to call everyhone that lives according to halacha an extremist.

Picture from yestrday: Haredim didn't let to miluimnik enter the bus. The reason? He had no kippa. So who started the segration? BTW I really wonder, if we are going to separte the streets and buses in Jerusalem, why there are no secular buses for secular areas in the city?

Here we go, back to the bad old days of the Pharisees and Sadducees, whose foolish religious discord hastened the decay of the Jewish kingdoms and paved the way for Roman conquest. While exotic and picturesque, the jigsaw puzzle of Jewish sectarianism is probably not healthy for a small country in the 21st century. The "demographic time bomb" most to be feared by Israel is not so much that of a growing Palestinian population as of the country's proliferating and self-ghettoized sectarian principalities. Unity in hatred of Palestinians or Arabs may be strong but it is not a promising basis for a sound society.

This the biggest trap to stop unity amongst Am Yisrael. Mixed communities is the best way to go where what us together is love for our fellow jew not seperation. Where would I live as a plain clothes Hareidi guy that works and runs a business. Halachachicly I keep all but just don't dress and act as part of BLACK HAT Comunity

Brilliant. Jews should have nothing better to do than to consider further separateness and exclusion from each other. Since we are experts at building fences how about another one?

no one would be denied a bus ride because he is not wearing a kippa. nice try though

thats true we in israel really do not need any other fence ... separating people ; the idea is just ridiculous .

Ok, yes I admit, I happen to be - gasp - a beancounter by profession. I know I know, but still, bear with me. Who gains from all the frictional costs with a lot of relocations? Well, real estate agents, banks, big developers and all the rest. If at all possible, try living with each other a bit more before trying this segregation.

Some of us don't want to live in filth and oppression. When the haredi men start showering on a regular basis, and their buildings and streets stop looking like WWII - oh, and they don't keep inventing and enforcing restrictions for everyone based on false interpretations of Torah - we'll consider it. But not to worry: for the same reason, we don't want to live with fake seculars who are just anti-Jews in Law-of-Return schmates.

There is a difference between religious and charidi . Saying that the charidi live in filth , that they don't shower on a regular base , is this not feeding and approaching antisemitism ? And please , never generalise , not all the charidi live in filth , and most ofthem certainly shower on a regular basis . As you write 5th generation , i suppose that you did'nt live abroad , amongst non Jews . There are also people who won't accept Jews , even seculars , in their buildings . There it's called antisemitism , how should i call it here ? PS , i'm not charidi , not even religious .

Why is every poll that y-net writes about showing a 51% result. Is nothing 60% or 49% etc.? Very odd indeed. Can these polls be trusted as truthful if every poll shows same results?

You made reference to the Roman conquest. Did you know that Rome was the first democrtic government on earth? Rome was the first Republic form of government? So, isn't the Roman conquest still a major part of Israel? Everyone talks about the wonderful government of democracy, yet most all the immorality, sin, etc. in the world comes from societies with this form of government. Everyone doing what seems right in their own eyes. The we have the other form of government promoted by Islam. May the Father never allow this in Israel. However, if Torah based government was adopted in Israel it would come with the blessings of HaShem. Then Israel would once again be the head rather than the tail.

for you . It's easy to promote this when you don't live here . We have the tora laws we need , no more needed . For some seculars , those who build the Nation , already too much of them . And you think that tora people are all honest ? Certainly not more than seculars , look only at some of them in our government , those shas guys .

I am speaking of real Torah based government, not hypocrits living as legalistic fanatics. True Torah based government is based on the Sh'ma! There is true love for HaShem and for all Israel. This Torah based leadership is successful as can be proved from the History of Israel. When Israel obeys, they are blessed, when they live in rebellion to Torah, they suffer.

When Israel obeys , they are blessed , you wrote . We have seen this "blessing" during the Shoa , where millions of tora obeying Jews were murdered , not to talk about the 1,5 million children . Where is there love for hashem and for all Israel ? I want to live free of religious laws , we have the quantity we need . I don't want religion to interfere in my home , to tell me what to do shabbat , or not to do . I want to be able to drive shabbat , or even yom kippour , if i want . So no need for more tora laws . The rabbanim have their place in a beth knesseth , NOT in the KNESSETH

One of the biggest mistakes in Israeli society and worst things about the society is that the religious know next to nothing about the secular and vice versa. The segregation is hurting Israel more than the supposed difficulties of living together. We have created generations of people who know absolutely nothing about each other's way of life, view each other as the enemy and have not the slightest idea of how to get along. We are all Jews and need to live together, work together, get along with each other. What this country needs is more "mixed" neighborhoods and towns - the long term results will only be positive.

It IS very sad. Sad that this is even being considered. Will history repeat itself & will Israel divide itself into two nations as it did in Biblical Times? What a horrible thought.

I grew up in Brooklyn. My neighborhood was a mix of Jews, Italians and Irish. we respected each other, went to school together and had block parties every year. Italians closed their stores on Yom Kippur out of respect. Streets were closed on Simchat Torah so that Jews could dance in the streets. why can't this happen between Jews in Israel?

What a backward culture. We have been fighting for equality and these religious nutters are stil living in the dark ages. I am not surprised they want separate living areas. Do you think Herzel had this sort of rubbish in mind? Israel seems to be falling backward even further... israel would be done without seculars who do the dirty work for the lazy ones who dont join IDF.