1.
"What is the connection between the Likud – National Liberal Movement (Likud) and parties that define themselves as anti-Zionist, such as Shas and United Torah Judaism?," Yair Lapid contemplated at the Democracy Institute and continued: "and what connects it with anti-liberal and anti-democratic parties, such as the Religious Zionist Party and Otzma Yehudit?"
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Lapid has written many papers based on the simplistic dichotomy of "us and them," which mainly talk about the delegitimization of important sectors in the general public, whose evil doings can be summed up in the question that directed Lapid in his speech: What is natural about the Likud's "natural partners"? I mean, why did the Likud join the outcasts in society, while he believes that they should actually be ostracized.
About two weeks ago we read the Torah portion about a similar ancient practice: "Command the children of Israel to banish from the camp all those afflicted with tzara'ath (leprosy) … and all those unclean through [contact with] the dead … and they not defile their camps." Which camp? According to his vision, this is the government of the "sane majority," that will unite "liberalism and nationalism."
2.
It is important to pore over the descriptives Lapid uses to define the ultra-Orthodox. In his capacity as an adjudicator in Zionist matters, he has ruled that Shas and United Torah Judaism are "anti-Zionist" parties! His opinion reflects a belief that is embarrassingly widespread among certain sectors in Israeli society. It is about defining those who are "wanted." Lapid assumes that he is holding onto the Philosopher's Stone for defining Zionism, and anyone who does not come under his umbrella definition is "anti-Zionist." But Zionism is a movement that is much broader and deeper than the narrow definition given to it by those among us who wish to ostracize the ultra-Orthodox community.
Zionism is first and foremost the return of the Jewish people to Zion. It is the political expression of the dream of generations, which has been preserved by religious tradition for more than two thousand years. Theodore Herzl would have been surprised at the ease with which Lapid dismissed a large portion of our nation from participating in the enterprise he conceived while being titled the "State Prophet," when he declared: "Zionism is a return to Judaism, even before it is the return to the Land of the Jews," at the First Zionist Congress.
3.
Do the ultra-Orthodox support this? For sure they do. Do they support the return of the Jewish People to Zion? For sure they do. Do they live in Israel by choice and consider it their home? For sure they do. Do they rejoice in the country's national happiness and cry in its times of sadness? For sure they do. In regard to military service – they have alternatives: the many charity and aid [chesed] organizations, which serve the general public, are a national service based on the ancient rule "All of Israel are responsible for each other and to each other." The influx of ultra-Orthodox recruits to the army and to the work force is increasing on an annual basis. In the more conservative sectors, particularly among ultra-Orthodox, the change is slower, but the moment they are set in motion – they prove that they are stable procedures in society. That is why it is very important not to impose, but to enable the processes to ripen.
From this standpoint, the various shades of the ultra-Orthodox community are most definitely Zionistic. Maybe they don't pray in Lapid's Zionist synagogue, and maybe their traditions are slightly different – but the foundations are similar. And one cannot say that about Lapid's Arab partners in the previous government. I support the inclusion of Arab parties in the government, but it is not logical and not moral to call the ultra-Orthodox "anti-Zionists," thus justifying their exclusion, while on the other hand bringing parties that clearly oppose the Zionist vision and Israel as a Jewish state (and for whom Israel is a colonialist enterprise) into the government.
4.
And we still have to answer Lapid's question. Likud is certainly a liberal national movement. Its nationalism also includes traditionalism. Jewish identity is a guiding light for it, and Torah study is a condition, inter alia, for the nation's existence. It is a great privilege for the Jewish state to support Torah studies. Our people's study ethos, which has been upheld within us for thousands of years, has influenced the Jews' outstanding achievements in science, inventions and entrepreneurship for the benefit of humanity. Torah studies also preserve the eternal flame of Jewish identity, a significant and not purposeless element in the well-known title "Jewish and democratic."
You see, for us studying Torah is not just a religious matter; it is also an interest of national importance, encompassing the historical existence of the Jewish People. It is only natural for us to be partners. It should be for you too.
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