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| Dozens of Charedim break into a Beit Shemesh police station (TOI) |
I do not for a moment believe that what happened a couple of
days ago in Bet Shemesh is in any way representative of the Charedi world as a
whole. The following was reported in the Times
of Israel:
A large group of Haredi protesters broke into a police station compound in Beit Shemesh, rioting and clashing with police officers overnight Sunday, following the arrest of an ultra-Orthodox draft evader in the city.
The rioters threw stones, attempted to block a main highway, and set fire to nearby brush, as footage shared on social media showed a crowd of jeering ultra-Orthodox men hurling debris at the police station as others forced open the gate, allowing them to push their way in.
I truly believe that most mainstream Charedim are as
appalled by what these people did as the rest of Israel is. These young men are
not representative of the typical Charedi. They belong to the Jerusalem
faction. Which has a history of reacting violently to things they oppose.
Something I doubt most mainstream Charedi leaders approve of.
That said, what these misguided young Charedim were reacting
to was something their leadership has often reacted to in similarly harsh
terms, albeit only verbally. These young people simply put their leaders’ words
into action. I am quite sure, however, that was not the intent of those
leaders’ strident rhetoric, harsh though it may have been.
What happened is that one of their fellow yeshiva students
had been arrested for refusing to register for the draft, a legal requirement
imposed on all Israeli citizens from whom inductees are drawn. It is no secret
that Charedi leadership is deeply upset about this requirement after decades
long total exemption.
As unfair and upsetting as many Israelis found that
arrangement, the nation had largely become accustomed to it, and the IDF seemed
able to function without Charedi participation. And while there were a few
meager attempts by the government to change that situation, they continued to
allocate substantial funding to yeshivos with relatively little oversight.
Although much of mainstream Israeli society resented the arrangement, it became
part of the status quo.
Then came October 7, 2023.
That changed everything...
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