Right now, Israel has either religious school or secular schools. The secular schools do not teach religion and many of the religious schools do not teach democratic values and civics (even though by law they must).
MK Rabbi Michael Melchior…
…proposed a bill to set up and fund a joint school system, one whose schools teach secular subjects including civics and culture, but at the same time teach religion.
The idea, says Rabbi Melchior, is to bridge the very wide religious / secular divide.
Any school in Israel could opt to join the new system. In the same way, existing schools can remain in the system where they now belong. No religious school would be forced to join; neither would any secular school.
Until now, schools teaching religion and secular studies including culture, civics and democracy have had to survive based on overseas donations.
Who could object to this proposal?
Haredim, that's who, as Ynet reports:
"Every community has its principles," Knesset Member Avraham Ravitz (United Torah Judaism) said Thursday. "Religious youths have an unshakable regard for the Torah and the word of God, and one should not combine these principles with those of the secular community. The proposal to establish a secular-religious school system bodes disaster."
This isn't about religious kids, especially haredi kids, learning secular studies. It is about a successful religious-secular school system taking money away from haredi schools.
Because a combined religious-secular school system will be very successful. It will graduate students who will go to army, work, pay taxes, get higher educations and build the economy – everything haredim do not do.
And that will make it both harder and even more morally objectionable for the state to keep funding haredi schools that fail their students, and that fail the state, as well.