Haredim Aren’t My Brothers, Aren't My Concern Israel’s Social Services Minister Says

Social Affairs ‎and Social Services Minister Meir Cohen of the center-right Yesh Atid Party reportedly said that Israelis “who don't send their children to serve in military are not my concern. They are not my brothers.”

Above: Social Affairs ‎and Social Services Minister Meir Cohen

Haredim Aren’t My Brothers, Israel’s Social Services Minister Says
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com

As tensions over the haredi community’s adamant refusal to serve in the IDF and as its resistance to taking the necessary steps to allow its children to get the education necessary to join a modern day workforce continue to grow, an anti-haredi statement made last week by the cabinet minister responsible for welfare policy has shocked the haredi community, which is heavily dependent on those services.

Social Affairs ‎and Social Services Minister Meir Cohen of the center-right Yesh Atid Party reportedly said that Israelis “who don't send their children to serve in military are not my concern. They are not my brothers.”

Cohen’s remark was reportedly made at a conference on welfare and the haredi community in the northern city of Beit Shean.

As the issue of day care subsidies for haredim was being discussed, the head of the City of Beit Shean's Welfare Department reportedly said he was uncomfortable with the "aggressive sentiment" against the haredi community.

"My father raised us all to serve in the military,” Cohen reportedly responded. “Those who don't send their children to serve in military are not my concern. They are not my brothers."

Haredi lawmakers lashed out at Cohen’s remarks and at the Yesh Atid Party. MK Rabbi Yaakov Asher of the Ashkenazi haredi United Torah Judaism Party even said that Yesh Atid’s founder and head, Finance Minister Yair Lapid, was “imbued with hatred for the haredim since his youth” and had corrupted Cohen.

"This [Cohen] isn't the man I know and this kind of statement is out of character for him. I guess the influence of his party chairman, a man imbued with hatred for the haredim since his youth, has rubbed off on Minister Cohen. The haredim are being used as a punching bag yet again. I'm sure the minister will retract these remarks,” Asher said.

But Cohen did not retract his remarks – he had his office release a statement that doubled down on them.

"Those who incite against enlisting in the military and do not recognize a Zionist Jewish state are not the minister's brothers. The minister works tirelessly to benefit the haredi community and routinely holds productive discussions with haredi MKs,” Cohen’s office reportedly said in a statement.

Comments

[NeverFrum]

Good for him. He should not apologize for his remarks. Israel cannot function with such a growing segment of society refusing to both work and to serve in the army yet take all they possibly can. If only the normal orthodox population would stand with Cohen and say that these people are not THEIR brothers also instead of putting them on a pedestal.

[me]

Not his brothers? So if his brother acts like a low life jerk then he is not his brother? Very interesting understanding of the word brother. I think this man is very wrong for saying something like this. He can argue and say charaidim should be doing this or that but to say they are not his brothers is sick. And anyone here who agrees I say the same thing to them.

[NeverFrum]

I assure you that the feeling is a mutual feeling among the Haredim.

[ruthie]

a bit extreme as we should love all jews.
but i certainly understand him.
there is no reason, none, that haredim should not do SOMETHING in the army...fold parachutes, check for supplies, something anything.

[Garnel Ironheart]

Chareidi lawmakers lashed out at him? The same people who have been screaming "Nazi!" at any supposed provocation are suddenly now think-skinned?

[Rodin]

C'mon, smell the coffee. They don't care if they are brothers, cousins, in-laws, step children or strangers. It's all about the MONEY. The rest is just PR and BS.

[David]

A fair comment.

[Robert J. Barron, Attorney-at-Law]

"My father raised us all to serve in the military,” -----> Amen to that. And if my family had lived in Israel/grown up in Israel, my father would have 1) expected the same thing of my 2 brothers and I, and 2) hung his head in shame had we evaded the draft.

[Robert J. Barron, Attorney-at-Law]

@Ruthie ------> there is no reason, none, that haredim should not do SOMETHING in the army...fold parachutes, check for supplies, something anything.

Ruthie, we have not seen you here in a long time. Welcome back.

More to the point, there IS a reason that the haredi's can't/won't do anything in the military. It's called laziness, it's called cowardice, it's called ingratitude, it's called any one of a number of things.

And it's still nothing but shameful in every sense of the word.

[Alter Kocker]

Mr. Barron:
I would add one more thing to your list as to why the Haredim are resistant to serving in the military. Their senior rabbis are scared to death that the exposure to the outside world coupled with additional education necessary to fill any position in the military would result in that person developing cognitive skills and leaving orthodoxy. It is a matter of keeping the cult under rabbinic control.

[state of disgust]

1) You deny the authority of the Jewish State.
2) You place the authority of your Rabbonim above the authority of the State which provides an environment for free expression of your views.
3)You do not hold a job that adds to the financial well being of the nation, yet you live off the welfare provided by the State and paid for by non-religious citizens.
4) You think you are better then the great Rabbonim who actually held jobs AND also expounded on the Torah. Because you think you are better, you do not emulate their behavior and sense of responsibility to contribute to the Jewish People.

You may be my brother by blood, and we will allow you to live in the country we built - as long as you behave as responsible citizens. But our patience has grown thin. When you engage in 'price tag' attacks - a political action designed to undermine the authority of the State, then you have crossed a line and its time for you to find a new home in a country willing to put up with social and economic leaches and religious fanatics. You add nothing to the religious, cultural or economic well being of the country which wasn't there before your demographic numbers increased. You are not welcome in a Jewish State for which I sacrificed and bled. You are not welcome when you define and insist that the only legitimate expression of Judaism is the expression of Judaism of which you approve. You are not welcome when you do not economically contribute to Israeli society but instead are a drain on the limited financial resources of the country. You are not welcome when you deny my Jewishness and try and tell me who I can marry and what I may eat, while ignoring tzaar balai chaiym and engaging in a form of bribery in exchange for kosher certification.
Shape up or ship out. We no longer have the patience for this shtuz.

[Robert J. Barron, Attorney-at-Law]

@Alter Kocker ----> Excellent point, and upon reflection, much more accurate than any one of the points that I had listed.

@State of Disgust ---> Excellent points, all.

You know, in the abstract, this is fascinating from (I think) both a sociological and psychological standpoint. (And I'm neither a sociologist nor a shrink).

Here we have, in words of state of disgust, a sector of the population that literally demands- not asks- but demands everything from the state/government in which they live- food, shelter, sustenance, income- and yet, at the same time, not only do they simply refuse to recognize the selfsame authority of that state, they demand that the state recognize that the only official and legitimate expression of Judaism is the one of which they approve, and that that same state recognize and meet their every need, while, at the same time, refusing to contribute anything as far as labor, taxes, or military service to that same state.

As far as an exercise in mass cognitive dissonance- I just find this fascinating.

Someday, some scholar is going to do a doctoral dissertation on this.

[flatearth]

Ruthie

"a bit extreme as we should love all jews".

Does that exclude the rest of us?

[Chicago sam]

Haredim behave like our enemies; I say we should ship the troublemakers to Gaza.