Haredim

Montréal (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Every year, Jews recite the entire Pentateuch aloud in synagogues. It is divided in weekly portions. This week’s one (Vaet’hanan, Deuteronomy 3 :23 – 7 :11) contains passages that are central to Jewish liturgy, including the Shema, a declaration of loyalty to God, or more precisely, a declaration […]

Haredim

Israel’s Military starts drafting Ultra-Orthodox Jews, but will they Dodge the Draft on Religious Principle?

The Conversation

By Michael Brenner, American University | – (The Conversation) – In late July 2024, the Israeli military sent out the first 1,000 conscription notices to ultra-Orthodox Jewish men, following a unanimous Supreme Court ruling that the government must stop exempting them. But will these Haredim, as the ultra-Orthodox are called in Israel, actually join the […]

Featured

Hostage Families demand Deal, Netanyahu Resignation, in Largest Demonstrations since Oct. 7

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Saturday evening witnessed the biggest Israeli demonstrations against the government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu since the outbreak of war on October 7, 2023, according to the Israeli press as summarized by Al Jazeera. Some 150,000 are said to have rallied in Tel Aviv alone. They demanded that the […]

Featured

Tens of Thousands of Israelis Demonstrate against Netanyahu, Demand Hostage Exchange Deal, New Elections

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Israeli newspaper Arab 48 reports that tens of thousands of Israelis rallied Saturday night against the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv and other cities, including Jerusalem, Beersheba and Haifa. The protesters were responding in part to dueling news releases about the possibility of a breakthrough […]

Anti-Zionism

Zionism’s Expired Shelf-Life: Why Naomi Klein is right that it has become Pharaoh

H. Scott Prosterman

Oakland, Ca. (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Previously I’ve argued that Zionism has run its course as a political movement, and accomplished its goal: The creation of a viable Jewish nation-state. I’ve also argued that Zionism under Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu (Bibi) has become a driving force in nurturing global anti-Semitism. He has perverted […]

Haredim

The Ideological Coup: How Far Right Kahanist Extremists Became the Face of Israel

Ramzy Baroud

( Middle East Monitor ) – Throughout history, fringe religious Zionist parties have had limited success in achieving the kind of electoral victories that would allow them an actual share in the country’s political decision-making. The impressive number of 17 seats won by Israel’s extremist religious party, Shas, in the 1999 election was a watershed […]

Featured

Israel on the Brink as Ultra-Orthodox Exemption from Military Service is Set to End

H. Scott Prosterman

Oakland, Ca. (Special to Informed Comment; Featured) – On March 29, the Israeli Supreme Court ordered the government to stop subsidizing the academies and yeshivas (seminaries), whose students have been exempted from military service since Israel’s founding. This move, brought by Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara, was prompted by the expiration of prior government actions to maintain […]

Featured

Could the Israeli Supreme Court’s decree that ultra-Orthodox be Conscripted bring Down Netanyahu?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Israeli newspaper Arab 48 reports on the conscription crisis that may cause the Netanyahu government to fall and tear Israeli society apart. The Israeli Supreme Court issued the ruling on Thursday evening, which freezes — as of April — the funds for ultra-Orthodox Jewish schools, the students of which […]

Haredim

Israel’s Army Exemptions for the ultra-Orthodox: A Jewish State divided over the Jewish Religion

The Conversation

By Michael Brenner, American University | – Just when you think nothing can surprise you anymore in Israeli politics, someone always comes along with a new twist. This time it was Yitzhak Yosef, one of Israel’s two chief rabbis. In response to debates over whether ultra-Orthodox Jews should be required to serve in the military, […]