This is a secular country. Learn fairy tales on your own time. In fact, do whatever you want in your own time. You voted and you lost. Cry me a river. Israel has enough suffering at the hands of religious coercion and you want to blast Lapid because he's railing against it? Lapid stands for secular Israel and we've had enough of separate AND unequal. Tell your brethren to learn from you, Ohad. You're a tax paying, hard working, religious man. Tell them to man up. Tell them to stop shirking their responsibility and stop burdening the state. Then you can stop talking about how you feel and start talking about action.

It is not the Haredim who are being alienated, it is the Jews who are being alienated by the Haredim. Their co-religionists are fully entitled to voluntarily support them, but we are not willing to. Why on earth should we subsidize them with child support when they systematically as a group refuse to finance themselves.

The status quo ought only be changed at a moderate pace with an emphasis on Hatzollah and Mitzvot and definitely leave education alone

It is not about hatrate & not about politics as who accepts state of Israel and who does not. It is about financial burden. When our state agreed to give haredim free tora study allowances + on the side many other allowances, the ratio of haredim to working class was different from now. The state of Israel is suffering from providing haredim monthly study allowance + child allowance + concessions in many other charges + many more. Our country is in 40 billion of debt. Our autist, social work, battared woman, mentally retired, police, shoa survivers, education & medical systems are crushing under the load of increaded work/demand and less budget. Our country will loose it's existance and our fate will be like in Greece if we won't act today. Without proper important subjects, there is no hope for higher studies and no studies = no jobs. Noboday is campaning against hareidim but everyone is trying to survive from drowining in debt. If you really really care for this country and you being a jew, then take your part of responsibility and share the burden in each and every sector.

I don't understand what are the ultra-orthodox so afraid of. To learn to speak English, to be able to count to more then 20 and to be able to use logical thinking, to learn about nature and animals - how that does harm them? There is a way how to teach religious children all these subject without harming their religious believes. They do not have to be taught about Darwin and the Big bang. Depriving children of the right to education is child abuse and contradiction to our constitution. How these people can get a fair chance to get a job if they lack basic skills?

I swear if I were Hariedi, I would say to the state: thank you for funding us as long as you did. I understand you can't afford it anymore, and it's not fair. But how can you call asking the Hariedim to pay for themselves, "declaring war"? And then threaten that if they get their feelings hurt, they are bound to become radicalized. You are forgetting that we all have freedom of choice. Even if they do join Satmar, there's no law against that. Whatever they do, join Satmar, get really mad, get a reality check, have more children, have fewer children, just let them do it on their own dime!

Ultras / Haredim do NOT speak for all kippot (or "yarmulkes").

load of rubbish, any excuse to try and stop the reform. All they need to do is work and pay for their lifestyle, including children, simple. if they are not happy here they are most welcome to go the US! no loss for Israel!

and no Rabbi condemns the only G-d given nation of Israel by living there, reaping the benefits and refusing to serve in the IDF. There are no words that can excuse them from the labor and sacrifice of others. I don't care what your particulars on your fine points of what you believe, when you live in Israel you SUPPORT Israel, period, end of story. I don't want excuses, I want an Israel not some self appointed 'privileged' 'Rabbi's' 'own' no, G-d wanted judges not Kings or self appointed cultish "Rabbi's' who've become their own 'religious' enemy state. If they wont defend Israel they should leave Israel and join the pals... formally. They do evil.

Shaked claims that the government is proposing that in order to be eligible for state funds, a school has to dedicate 55% of its time to teaching core subjects. He's making a mistake - the proposed demand is that 55% of core subjects be taught. The difference is huge. In a 5 hour day, dedicating 55% time to core subjects would require over 2.5 hours per day. If a school was open for a longer day, more hours would have to be dedicated to reach this goal. This indeed would cut the learning in chareidi schools by more than half. But no one is suggesting that. According to the proposal, each school would have to cover an amount of material equal to 55% of the core curriculum, however long it takes. The longer the school day is, the smaller the percentage of hours that needs to be dedicated to these subjects.

Surely you're kidding. "Successful intergration of ultraorthodox into Israeli society." That's the whole point. There is no intergration of the ultraorthodox in Israeli society. If they want funding from the Satmar, let them. Of course the other alternative for them is to WORK.

If they are so rich and can finance the entire haredi system, why is their share so small now? How is it that the dati leumi yeshivot manage to combine the Torah + secular subjects and then enrich the Torah study via hesder yeshivot? It is possible when you want it.

there must be 50 reasons why this opinion piece is wrong. trying to use the fact that ultra orthodox will become satmar chasidim if they lose current state funding? puleease

Why only one decade. Please regress yourselves 20 decades all the way back to your shtetl and Eastern European mentality. That is the way you want to live, you refuse to accept modernity and progress. There can never be a possibility of the normal secular modern democratic society that Israel purports and wants to be when such a large and ever growing sector does not want to accept modernity and democracy. The twain shall ne'er meet. One side will eventually have to give in and my bet is that the seculars will eventually start to leave Israel in huge droves, simply because they will be out numbered and an impasse will be reached. If Lapid is "burned" as you say, this will be the start of the end of Israel as we know it today, it will be a pivotal moment in the history of Israel and Judaism, it will be the start of an irreversible process that will put paid to Zionism and the entire project started by our forefathers in 1880. The author is right in what he says, the haredim will be pushed into a corner, but he fails to see that this will only produce more antagonism towards them from the secular community, much more in fact, the situation will get worse and worse. I stress once more about the pivotal point. The haredim will see Lapid's "burning" as a victory for their way and for "God" and it will encourage them to strengthen their resolve and not only to resist attempts to integrate them, they will isolate themselves even more and as the numbers weigh in their favor I envisage the dissolution of Israel.

Sounds like the decrees of the Greeks of old against the Jews. Well we know who won and we know that in this case the Observant Jews will win out eventually against the new Greeks, Lapid and friends.

The seculars do not finance the chareidim. The chareidim finance themselves. A very small percentage of your money goes towards their living. CHECK IT OUT BEFORE YOU COMMENT!!!

There are 2 problems with being a Baal teshuva. First, you are made to feel like a sinner, and everything you did is told to eb wrong. 2nd, the authority figures themselves were often greater sinners, who became extremists, and you pay for their own guilt. Now this guy, who means well, is just talking nonsense. It is unfeasible for the mass shift of haredim to become like satmar. even satmar is a disaster, with rival leaders who are at war with each other. and satmar cannot fund 1 million people in Israel. Even if they do, how does this change anything? It means they will no longer accept funds from Israeli government?

Another lost Saul He become a hasidick sect ember ,he could have also became a moon or Krishna He find himself a "rebe" It give him the feeling of Beijing part of something,he looks now a other like if he knows better and heis ready to "help" We must have urgently a separation betwen the stat and the religion NOT A $ for this guy Let show them the way of factory's ,offices,and army bases If not then "Out"

Ohed Shaked is greatly mistaken by assuming that Satmar will help out all Hareidi schools... wishful thinking. Satmar don't have the kind of money that is required day in day out to keep the schools going without goverment funding. So the Hareidi will just have to knuckle down and learn their maths and English like everyone else does.

a medieval European perversion having NOTHING to do with ancient Tora from Mt. Sinai or Moses

Why would any sect enforce ignorance on their own followers? I'm not being facetious here, I really would like to know

This is the usual Haredi tac of displaced responsibility. You seem to think that the Haredi population do not need to take responsibility for their own actions and have the nerve to blame their actions on others outside their communities. Any child who is not studying the core corriculum is de facto not going to school (which is against the law), but is attending a fundamentalist Madrasah. You cannot educate a child from just 1 book or on just one subject.. If the Haredim decide that rather than become valuable members of Israeli society (whether they are Zionists or not) they would rather join a cultist type splinter group of extreme orthodoxy, then that is their choice (or rather that of their Rabbis who will direct them). How dare you come with your usual omens and threats of what the Haredim will do if we refuse to pay for their madrasot and the childcare bills. Essentailly you are saying "pay us to raise out children as imbeciles or we will follow someone elses money trail and turn into even more useless citizens. ALL OF YOU, IT IS TIME TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR OWN LIVES. IF NOT FOR G_D'S SAKE THEN FOR YOUR OWN.

we, secular Jews have with inhabitants of planet Mea Shearim/Bnei Brak?

Why do the Satmars in London study core curriculum in school? because it is the law and they want to be part of society. Why do they make such trouble in Israel? because unlike the respect they have for the British system they despise Israel and do not want to be part of British society. They should leave Israel and go to America asap

55% will be on Maths, English, Hebew and Science. The 45% can be Torah, Mishna etc or what the ultra-orthodox can choose. This is a good reasonable compromise.

Either you fork over the money or we will join the forces of darkness against you. Bring it on you Visigoth! Bring it on!!

Yes Larry, you are dead right, the haredim will win, it will take a few years, but they will win, only problem is it will be a Pyrrhic victory because hand in hand with their victory will go the downfall of Israel. Read what post #15 has to say, that is exactly what will happen.

Keeping them in the dark, uneducated, unsophisticated, unable to cope with modern life and indeed a total inability to face life fair and square renders them helpless and totally dependent on their spiritual leaders, the Rabbis. This is called domination and manipulation and the desired outcome is total servitude.

It's stupid to put a percentage on these kids. They can learn in 5-10% of the time all that is needed, because of their incredible study habits. I.e. they know How to learn. It's better just to have a mutually agreed competence exam, I am sure they will pass it easily. Taxes and state service are separate issues.