What follows are two opinion pieces from the Israeli press arguing the Supreme Court's decision to forcibly desegregate the haredi school in Immanuel is wrong.
The post below this has three opinion pieces in support of the Supreme Court's decision.
All articles were translated by Didi Remez of Coteret.com.
A Lost Battle
By Ben Caspit • Ma’ariv (p. 3)
The High Court of Justice ruling to send the parents of the girl students in Immanuel to jail if they fail to comply with the court orders is a just decision, on the one hand. On the other hand, it isn’t smart. In contrast to the ruling in the matter of income supplement stipends for Haredim, there is no real reason for all the fuss. At issue is a cultural war, a clash of civilizations, and the only possible outcome is anarchy. Neither side will benefit from the clash that is now going to erupt. This is the last thing that Israel needs at these crazy times, between flotillas. A battle of principle must be waged against the Haredim in those matters that can be won. In this matter, I fear, the battle is lost.
When it comes to wantonly funding tens of thousands of yeshiva students from the depleting pocket of the taxpayer, there is justification for simply stopping the scandal. Simply close the tap. On the other hand, the fact is that nobody has yet come along and ordered the recruitment of tens of thousands of young Haredi men who dodge the draft every year. Such a thing is impossible. They can be fined, their rights can be revoked, they can be treated like second-class citizens, but it would be impossible to simply draft this organized public. That is obvious to everyone.
The same is true for the school in Immanuel. My colleague Ben-Dror Yemini was right when he was outraged by describing what goes on there as “racism.” This is a different culture, which sees things differently, which delineates lines and builds fences in strange places. We will not be able to persuade them that their behavior is shameful, that it reflects ignoble values and the primitiveness of the Middle Ages. They will never understand. To the exact same degree that we will never understand their side. In such cases, an effort must be found to find the golden mean. To avoid lost battles.
The High Court of Justice, with its ruling yesterday, responded with a certain childishness. It was offended by the singing, the dancing and the “Shma Yisrael” between its halls, was shocked by the insolence of those who deny the state and its institutions and who hallow the “great sages of Israel” and reacted as it did. Which reminded me of the military action against the flotilla. In both cases, we were in the right. Both in the attempt to stop the flotilla, and the attempt to stop the parents from Immanuel. In both cases the outcome was harsh. In the first case, the siege on Gaza has ended, has breathed its last, the family has been informed, please refrain from condolence visits. In the second case too, it is going to end badly. These people are capable of sitting in jail for 20 years for their faith. This is their way. We will break long before this time passes, long after lots of precious energy and unnecessary hatred are squandered in the mass demonstrations and the screaming to the heavens.
The High Court of Justice, despite its name, should not have been the side in the right, but the cautious and responsible adult. Sometimes the public good takes precedence over one inalienable right or another.No good will come out of this.
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To Jail, With Pride
By Menahem Gsheid • Yedioth Ahronoth (p. 2)
This isn’t new for us. Ever since we were little children, we’ve heard about our fathers and forefathers who were imprisoned because they chose to obey the commandments of the Torah and educated their children according to their worldview. This happened in Communist Russia, it is happening in Yemen and in Iran, and also in democratic, permissive and open Israel.
And just as they went, with their heads high, so they will go now as well. For those who believe in eternal life, two weeks behind bars are nothing. Their fathers survived solitary confinement, they will survive crowded cells.
The fact that in order to salvage the judges’ honor, the parents were willing to send their children a distance of many kilometers to study in other places, did not satisfy the court, and it stuck to its guns to the end. No compromises. As if it were a representative of Neturei Karta.
The absurdity cries out to the heavens: how can it be called racism when one out of three girls in the Slonim hassidic program is Sephardic? And not only that, but a Bolshevik majority of the parents from the general program in Immanuel do not want to study together with the Slonim hassids. It’s too hard for them. They want to study on their own, because their way of life is different. None of them were offended and none of them came to the courtroom to ask for help.
And that’s not all. The judge wants to force the parents to send their children to school under the compulsory education law. Let’s see the court deal with the many thousands of the Bedouin community that don’t go to school, and when it finishes with them, let it send its troops to force several thousands children of Israeli Arabs who have never set foot in the school system,. But topping its concerns are the 74 girls who want to study, in the next two weeks, in a separate framework without asking for even one penny from the state coffers. Why be strict with them?
What is impressive about His Honor [clearly referring to Justice Edmond Levy]is his ability at dialectics in his rulings and statements, as if he were the greatest of scholars. On the one hand, he cries out that there is no Halachic authority above him. He also does not recognize the spiritual authority of anyone except himself. On the other hand, he lashes out by noting that the Slonim rebbe’s book is called Paths of Peace. Very nice casuistry. It’s too bad he doesn’t teach boys their bar mitzvah speeches.
In European countries when the Supreme Court of the state makes an absurd ruling, it is possible to go to the European Court of Human Rights. In Israel there is no such body and if you’re Haredi, then forget it. Only it decides. Without any need to explain. We can assume that had the parents wanted to climb down from their limb, His Honor would have issued an order against it. They will obey him and that’s it. Otherwise, it’s off to jail or hara kiri.
And no, do not suspect, God forbid, that His Honor was bursting with emotion. Just two days ago [yeshiva students] were denied their supplementary income allowances, so yesterday they ensured them four meals a day in jail. Real “adjustment pay.”
And now seriously: the only option that has not yet been legally explored is that the president, whose political future is behind him, will decide to take responsibility and pardon these poor parents. Mr. Peres has been in many junctures in his life where he took responsibility, and at this noisy intersection, we need a person of his stature who will steer us in the right direction.