The Nachala settlement movement called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Israel Katz, and the government to "make a courageous decision and immediately begin building Jewish communities in northern Gaza. This is a national mission of the highest order – returning settlement to Gaza is not only a moral response but a security and strategic necessity."

Wednesday saw a march in northern Gaza border communities, within touching distance of where the former communities of Nissanit, Dugit, and Elei Sinai once stood. Thousands of participants – including hostage families, bereaved families, Gush Katif evacuees, soldiers, rabbis, and Knesset members – called out "returning to the Gaza region."

Responding to the poll, Yehuda Wald, Religious Zionism party CEO, wrote on his X account, "The truth is it's a miracle. Despite all the panic in the channels, despite all the dire explanatory commentary from the former officials, despite all the blackening and delegitimization campaign against Religious Zionism people who express these value positions, large segments of the Israeli people haven't lost their way. They want to return to Gush Katif, they want to defeat Hamas, and they want courage and not weakness. There is hope."

One of the most surprising elements in the Israel Hayom poll was the sweeping support from the Haredi public for renewed settlement in Gaza. While their Knesset representatives remain silent regarding this move, and specifically the religious Zionist public is identified with the initiative, 83% of Haredim responded that settlement in Gaza should be renewed, compared to only 5% who answered it should not be done, and the remainder who answered they don't know.

Among the religious public, 67% believe Jewish settlement in Gaza should be renewed, compared to 17% who answered negatively to such an initiative, and the remainder who answered "don't know." Among secular Israelis, there is 50% opposition to renewed settlement in Gaza, compared to 29% who answered positively, and the remainder who answered they don't know.

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According to a survey to be presented during a special broadcast titled "Shoulder to Shoulder" about the conscription exemption bill on Israel Hayom's website Thursday, most Israelis believe draft evaders should face criminal and economic sanctions, with the government bearing primary responsibility for drafting them.

The survey, conducted by Professor Yitzhak Katz and Maagar Mochot Ltd, included 501 participants from Israel's adult population aged 18 and above. When asked whether full mandatory service should apply to all ultra-Orthodox men of draft age, the responses were clear: 57% said yes, 27% said no, and 16% were undecided.

The political breakdown of those supporting universal draft is telling: From the anti-Netanyahu camp, some 80% of Yesh Atid voters, 86% of National Unity Party voters, 94% of Yisrael Beytenu voters, and 93% of Democratic Camp voters support universal conscription for Jews. Among Likud voters, 49% believe all ultra-Orthodox men should be drafted at service age, while support drops to 39% among Religious Zionism voters and 31% among Otzma Yehudit voters. As expected, more than 90% of the Haredi parties Shas and United Torah Judaism voters opposed mandatory service for all ultra-Orthodox men of draft age.

When asked who bears responsibility for drafting yeshiva students into the IDF, 59% of respondents said it falls on the government, 18% said it's the military's responsibility, 5% attributed it to the Supreme Court, and 18% were unsure.

The poll also addressed sanctions against draft evaders. A majority of the public – 65% of the total sample, representing 77% of those who expressed an opinion – supports imposing sanctions: 35% favor both criminal and economic sanctions, 19% support only economic sanctions, and 11% advocate for criminal penalties alone. Twenty percent of respondents opposed any sanctions.

Among Shas and United Torah Judaism voters, more than 90% opposed mandatory military service requirements.

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In the wake of the mounting public pressure to end the blanket waiver Haredim get on military service, Israel Hayom has learned that the various Coalition parties have reached a general agreement on new legislation that would include financial penalties on ultra-Orthodox who don't serve once the conscription is extended to that segment of society.

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The new clause has been included in the drafts being formulated between the parties ahead of the final language that would be submitted to the Knesset under a reformed military service law.

The new measures, if enacted, would mean that Haredim who enlist would get benefits while those who do not would be financially disadvantaged through what is called "negative incentives." However, the details could be crucial. If the sanctions are merely in the form of smaller budgets to yeshivot, it will be very easy for ultra-Orthodox representatives to circumvent them by increasing the funding through other mechanisms.

According to sources involved in drafting the bill, these are far-reaching negative incentives that have not been introduced in previous iterations of conscription bills and the ultra-Orthodox parties have given a green light to having them incorporated in the new bill.

In addition, in the emerging decision, ultra-Orthodox representatives are expected to commit that Haredim enlistment rates in military or national service will increase significantly over the years, although the bill will not include specific numbers.

A meeting on Wednesday in the Knesset failed to produce a breakthrough. The bone of contention is that Minister Benny Gantz's State Party insists under the new bill a special administration would be set up to place young ultra-Orthodox men in civil or military service, with a small cap on the number who would be allowed to study in yeshivot instead.

The ultra-Orthodox are not willing to accept quotas for yeshiva students and want every ultra-Orthodox man to have the right to choose rather than have an administration or the IDF decide. The ultra-Orthodox parties are willing to compromise in that those who do not study in yeshivot will enlist or serve in national service under certain conditions.

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In recent weeks, the importance of core studies in the Haredi sector has been widely discussed in the context of coalition funds, which include billions of Shekels for Haredi educational institutions that do not teach core studies, thus reducing the chances of Haredi children integrating into the future job market.

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In the meantime, data on the ground show a considerable improvement in recent years in some of the numbers related to Haredi education and employment.

So, for example, the number of Haredi students taking matriculation exams – even if they are not entitled to a certificate - rose from 24% in 2008 to 44% in 2021. Within five years, the number of those eligible for matriculation in the Haredi sector increased from 2% to 6% among Haredi males and from 20% to 25% among Haredi females (2016-2021).

This data is based on the 2023 publication of the Israel Democracy Institute's yearbook on the Haredi sector, which has been published for eight years and reviews the changes that have taken place in recent decades in various fields in Haredi society, including education, employment, and lifestyle.

The survey also shows that at the beginning of 2023, there were approximately 156,036 yeshiva students in the Haredi sector. This was after a year in which the increase of the number of yeshiva students slowed down to 2.5% in 2022, at the end of which the Haredi parties joined the coalition, and increased again by 4.1%.

It must be noted that this number of Haredi yeshiva students includes unmarried men, most of whom are under 23 years old, and married men, most of whom have been studying for many years even over age 31. Institute researchers point out the clear connection between the presence of Haredi parties in the coalition and the growth rate in the number of Haredi yeshiva students. Since 1999, the only years that showed a decrease in this number were 2013-2014.

The Haredi population in Israel numbers approximately 1,335,000 people, which is 13.6% of the total population. Young people up to age 19 comprise 58% of the Haredi population compared to 31% in the general Jewish population. In 2030, the Haredi population is expected to reach 16% of the total population, while there are expected to be about one million Haredim up to the age of 20, who will constitute 25% of this age group.

Technological professions are a top priority

About 16,700 Haredi students, comprising 5% of all students, studied in institutions of higher education in the 2022/23 academic year. Their number increased this year by about 900 students, an increase of 7%. Sixty-nine percent of Haredi students are women.

Another interesting statistic that emerges from this study is that 15% of Haredi female students are studying computer science (compared to 13.5% among non-Haredi female students). This is a jump of 63% in four years. The number of Haredi men studying computer science among all Haredi students is significantly lower than the number of non-Haredi Jewish students (19% versus 28.5%, respectively).

Video: Haredim protest in Beit Shemeh / Credit: Israel Police

Editor of the Haredi society's yearbook, Dr. Gilad Malach, explains the data in a conversation with Israel Hayom: "The Haredi society is a 'studying society,' that directs its sons to focus on learning Torah, and this has led to a dramatic change in the role of women in this society. If a few decades ago they were employed as teachers – today, in order to support the household, they have to work in high-quality positions, in many cases in professions in the field of technology."

Malach adds: "As a result, the curriculum in Haredi high schools for girls changed rapidly, and now includes English, mathematics, and technological subjects. The training curriculum in the high school seminaries, which in recent years also offers a variety of technological tracks, has changed. Many Haredi women prefer to undergo technological training in a full academic track, generally on a Haredi campus, resulting in a situation where the percentage of women studying computer science is even higher than non-Haredi women."

Malach went on to say that "this change allows many married yeshiva students to continue studying in yeshiva, and we have therefore seen an increase in recent years in the number of married students that does not fall short of the general rate of growth of the Haredi society. The only cases in which the increase in the number of married yeshiva students was stopped was due to strong economic pressure on the Haredi society, or when support for Torah studying decreased.

"We saw this in 2003 when child allowances were cut, and in 2013 with the cut of the yeshiva budget. We may also see this in the near future as a result of the expected economic crisis following the war or as a result of new priorities set by the next government."

New record

Another optimistic figure relates to the field of employment in the Haredi society. In 2023, a new record was registered in the number of employed women and men: about 110,000 Haredi men in the prime working age group (25-64), which comprise 55% of Haredi men, are working – a figure that has not been seen since 1995. This is a continuation of the increase observed in 2022 to about 53%, after a stagnation of rates at 50%-52% in 2015-2021.

Moreover, in 2023, the number of working Haredi women of prime working age crossed the 80% threshold for the first time and jumped to 157,000, an increase from 142,000 last year. To be noted that the 2023 figures are correct for the first three quarters of the year, and it is possible that the final figure for 2023 will be lower, especially among Haredi men, due to the situation in the local economy, alongside coalition funds for Torah institutions.

However, the average monthly income for Haredi men dropped from 76% in 2003 to 50% of the average monthly income among non-Haredi Jews in 2021. In this year, this amount stood at NIS 9,707 compared to NIS 19,279 among non-Haredi Jewish men. In that year, Haredi women earned an average of NIS 8,230 a month, 67% of the average monthly income among non-Haredi Jewish women (NIS 12,330).

A decrease in the incidence of poverty

There has been a decrease in the incidence of poverty among Haredi families from 39% in 2015 to 34% in 2021, a very high figure in comparison to the general population (21% in 2021). It is possible that the decrease is a result of an increase in the employment rate of Haredi women and an increase in the level of income among employees, together with an increase in state support for married yeshiva students and child allowances. In addition, the rate of Haredi children who lived below the poverty line after payments of child allowance was 47% in 2021.

Household income: a 19% increase has been registered in gross monthly income for a Haredi household over a period of six years (from NIS 12,616 in 2015 to NIS 14,978 in 2021), but this amount is still 55% lower than the gross income for a non-Haredi Jewish household (22,047 shekels).

Editors of the Haredi Society Yearbook, Dr. Gilad Malach and Dr. Lee Cahaner, from the Israel Democracy Institute, point out that "there is a clear trend towards a rise in the standard of living of Haredi households, as a result of a rise in the number of working Haredi women and a renewed increase in the rate of working Haredi men after a few years of treading on the same spot."

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Minister of Environmental Protection Idit Silman is poised to introduce this summer new gender-segregated bathing tunes in some natural springs in Israel as part of a pilot program that is to be run separate outside the official operating hours for those sites, Israel Hayom has learned. 

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The pilot program will initially include only two government-run attractions run by the Israeli authorities: one in the Ein Tsukim Nature Reserve near the Dead Sea, and the other in Gan Hashlosha National Park (Shane) near Beit Shean. 

Video: Concern over the Dead Sea's receding water levels / Noam Badin

The program, which seeks to touch on a sensitive issue as more religious circle call for segregated bathing hours while liberal groups see this as a slipper slope toward the sidelining of women, will not impact the existing arraignment for mixed-gender bathers as it will take place only between 6 pm to 9 pm and later. Israeli natural springs are usually closed for bathers by 5 p.m.

Earlier this year, United Torah Judaism MK Moshe Gafni introduced draft legislation that calls for having at least 15% of operating times allotted for gender-segregated bathing. Silman's pilot program appears to cater to the Gafni's Haredi constituency as well as other conservative Israelis. 

A previous attempt to introduce such a scheme at Ein Tsukim was struck down by the Justice Ministry for being discriminatory. 

Silman told Israel Hayom that "Israel's natural resources belong to everyone, and therefore upon assuming office I put an emphasis on finding creative solutions to make public spaces and parks accessible to all publics, including the Haredi populations." 

She added, "The pilot program will only run outside the official operating hours and will give more sectors the chance to enjoy the natural springs that have stayed away until now because of their lifestyle – but without impacting the members of the general public who bathe there during normal hours."

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A new survey conducted among young Israelis shows that 42% believe their generation is "unlucky" and that their future is less bright than their parents. The survey also shows that 52@ believe there is discrimination in Israel based on ethnicity and place of residence. Another statistic shows that 54% say they would emigrate if they could, while 62% feel alone in dealing with their future. 

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The survey, conducted by ERI and carried out by the Rashi Foundation and Gandyr Foundation using a representative sample of Israelis between ages 18-34, tried to gauge sentiment among young Israelis amid what is considered to be a period of heightened political polarization over the proposed judicial reform. 

Video: Israelis protest judicial reform (Credit: Barak Brinker)

The report asked them about their approach to various life decisions, what motivates them, and their overall views on various issues as well as the trust they have in the state institutions and their degree of social involvement. 

The most troubling issue involves the erosion in the sense of belonging to the state in recent months: While the 2022 Democracy Index showed that 66% of Israelis between 18-24 (as well as 65% of those between 25-44) would prefer to stay in Israel even if they had the opportunity to move to a different country, in the new survey this figure stood only at 54%. 

Among Haredim, 91% say they would prefer to stay in Israel, while among non-Haredi Jews, that figure drops to 44%. Among Israeli Arabs, that figure stands at 32%. 

When asked to say what their three overarching objectives are among 12 that were presented to them, some 47% said "economic well-being and a high lifestyle", some 45% said chose "building a family" and 40% said "economic security that will grant me livelihood and enough money for old age." Only 5.8% chose "working toward political and social change." 

Some 42% of young Israelis believe they are part of an "unlucky" generation and think their lives will not be as good as their parents' future was. Among non-Haredi Jews, 47% say their generation is unlucky, with only 33% saying they believe their future is brighter than their parents. Among young Arab respondents, some 34% said they are part of an unlucky generation, but 52% said their future is brighter than their parents'. 

Some 52% of Israelis believe that their chances of realizing their professional goals are determined firstly by their place of residence, their ethnic background and their family's financial means. Only 48% say that their personal aptitude, knowledge and skills are the most important. 

Some 62% said that the state has not provided them with a safety net and has left them to their own devices in pursuing their future goals. This stood at 69% for women, 55% of men, 49% of Arabs, and 43% of Haredim. Almost half of respondents said they felt they could not trust the state to give them what they need to meet the challenges of the future, and women and non-Haredi Jews comprise more than half of this group. 

According to Rashi Foundation, the "results of the survey show that the disparity between the haves and have-nots has only increased and that if we are to grant a real equal opportunity to everyone, we must have widespread engagement to effect real change when it comes to trust in institutions and we must bolster infrastructure and incentivize various remedies, such as professional training for the job market and more." 

According to The Gandyr Foundation, the survey shows that "most young Israelis think they are alone in facing the big challenges in the greater complex reality; more than 60% of them feel the state does not provide them with a safety net and that they have to take care of themselves by themselves. The study is a wake-up call for all those who engage in youth outreach." 

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For 16 years now, David Hager has managed to avoid giving an interview. The businessman and philanthropist, who is considered to be one of the most significant forces urging the recruitment of ultra-Orthodox Jews or Haredim into the IDF, does his utmost to limit exposure to a minimum. "I prefer to work underneath the radar, quietly, for, as it says in the Talmud, 'A blessing is found only in an object that is hidden from the eye', but on occasions, there is no choice," he explains in a conversation from his home on the 22nd floor of the Leonardo Plaza Hotel in Jerusalem.

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He even tried to dodge receiving the Presidential Award for Volunteerism a few weeks ago, explaining that although this is clearly a great honor, he simply prefers to engage in his activities behind the scenes. He now says that he felt a duty to be interviewed in order to counter the threat that is knocking on our door: "I feel that we are on the eve of the destruction of the Third Temple. What I see is a profound schism within the Jewish people and nobody is listening to the other side, even though there are rights and wrongs on both sides. I too have criticism of the Haredim but at the same time, I also see the amazing things taking place within that sector of Israeli society.

"Just take a look at Yonatan Hirsch, an ultra-Orthodox Jew who was recently verbally harassed by a woman on a bus merely because of the kippah he was wearing and his peyot (side curls). Hirsch served in the army because of me. I had Shabbat dinner with his family, an unforgettable experience to which I bring senior IDF officers, and his mother told me that she has an extremely talented son who wants to join up, but she is concerned that it will cause them tremendous problems and that he won't be able to find a shidduch (a marital match). I asked her if she thought that he might become less religious because of the army and she said no. I then said to her 'Let the Almighty be the one to decide.' Hirsch is currently a reserve captain in the IDF and an attorney at the State Attorney's Office. One day he will be the State Attorney. And we have dozens of stories just like that of Yonatan."

Hager (69) was born in Tel Aviv to a family that made Aliyah from Belgium. His father was the owner of the legendary Arctic popsicle manufacturer, which may have been closed down decades ago, but has remained a household name among millions of Israelis to this day. As a young boy, he studied at flagship institutions of the ultra-Orthodox world – the Yishuv Hahadash yeshiva and then later on at the first Hesder Yeshiva in Israel Kerem BeYavneh. He served as a combat medic in the Nahal Infantry Brigade and during his post-army studies he met Judy, his wife of 46 years. The two of them moved to Los Angeles, where their three children were born, and he started out on a successful career in real estate.

Hager currently splits his time between Los Angeles and Jerusalem, where he spends about four months a year dedicated to philanthropic activity for the good of the general public. "Though my house in LA is five times bigger, I actually feel much more at home here." he says while we look out over the Old City, "Giving to the community now takes up more than 50% of my time (alongside business and family), and I am happy to say that my partners too are headed in the same direction. One of them, Adam Milstein, is one of the key figures in charge of the war on BDS and antisemitism."
Forced conscription is an own goal.

One of the main issues that Hager has been leading for many years now is the drafting of Haredim into the IDF, as a member of the management board of the Netzah Yehuda Association and one of its key donors. In addition to the Netzah Yehuda Battalion itself, the Association was also a partner in the establishment of the Hetz Tzanhanim (Haredi paratroopers) and accompanies the Tomer Givati and Israel Air Force programs for Haredim. A considerable portion of the time he spends in Israel is dedicated to helping and boosting the issue of drafting Haredim, and especially during recent times. "With the Haredim, you really need to understand a simple fact – there is no such thing as coercion. If you try to force anything it simply won't work, and vice versa," he explains. As proof of that, he points to the Netzah Yehuda Battalion, recounting that the first draft included a mere 30 combat soldiers, and today we are talking about a larger than usual battalion, one that is extremely active and in great demand.

Q: The figures regarding drafting Haredim in recent years have remained unchanged. The Haredim are not running en masse to sign up.
"That's true. In 2014, a senior politician said that if they fail to meet the quotas, something which was generally accepted by all, then yeshiva students would go to jail. I drove to his house in Tel Aviv and I begged. I told him, 'You know full well that if you throw 200 Haredim into jail there will be an outcry, within a matter of minutes there will be half a million people in front of the Knesset.' He refused to listen to me and this only served to increase the objection to joining the army. As a result, the hard-line ultra-Orthodox 'Jerusalem Faction' became stronger and subsequently stirred up strong feelings among the Haredi public, and everything just collapsed. Today, ultra-Orthodox soldiers are afraid of entering Bnei Brak in uniform. The number of soldiers in Netzah Yehuda was supposed to double since 2014; however, this has not been the case. It is genuinely not possible to achieve anything by coercion."

Q: You are ignoring the fact that there were a number of dark clouds surrounding the Haredi battalion. The incident, about eighteen months ago, involving the elderly Palestinian man who was cuffed and died, alongside the abuse of Palestinians by combat soldiers following a terrorist attack. This resulted in the battalion's name being dragged through the mud.

"In which battalion did Elor Azaria serve? Nobody knows. I asked a group of 300 different people, all of whom were familiar with his story, along with a number of IDF major generals, but not a single one knew that he served in the Shimshon Battalion. Yet, whenever the Netzah Yehuda Battalion is involved in something, the journalists and the public jump at the opportunity to stress that it was ultra-Orthodox soldiers who did it. The simple answer lies in the statistics, not only is the battalion not involved in more problematic incidents than others, but on the contrary. In contrast to any other battalion, which serves for a four-month stint in Judea & Samaria and then proceeds to take part in military training and to serve in other combat fronts such as the Golan Heights or the Gaza Strip border, Netzah Yehuda spends the entire year in Judea & Samaria, which leads to a tremendous level of erosion."

Q: Despite that, we cannot really say that the Haredim support joining up. A few years ago, it was exposed that the IDF had inflated the numbers of those joining up in order to meet the quotas, and in practice, individuals who were not religious at all, let alone ultra-Orthodox, were counted as such.

"Today the possibility of serving in the IDF is a ready option available in the Haredi world too. Take, for example, a guy called Avi. He was in yeshiva and left to go to England for three months, even though he received authorization from the army to spend only one month there, based on his declaration of 'Torato Umanuto', literally meaning that an individual's Torah study is considered his occupation, as part of the special, long-established arrangement enabling young Haredi men to complete their Torah studies in yeshiva before enrolling in the army. On his return, he was drafted, and his plan was to immediately start shooting in the air once he received his service rifle in order to be able to obtain an exemption from military service on the grounds of being unfit due to his mental health. At the end of his first march, when the troops returned to base, his friend, who wears a knitted kippah, asked him to remain awake for an additional 20 minutes and join in the 'vatikin' early morning prayers, that take place at sunrise. This was the first time he had prayed in this special way, and it had a tremendous impact on him, but he was still unsure as to whether or not he wanted to remain. Rabbi Shteinman, with whom he consulted, told him that to be on the streets is also an issue of pikuach nefesh or saving a life so he should remain in the army."

By saying this, in essence, Hager has confirmed for the first time that Rabbi Aharon Yehuda Leib Shteinman, the Gadol HaDor or spiritual Leader of the Generation within the Haredi world, who passed away in 2017, was one of the rabbis who actually supported the military draft, something for which he suffered heavy criticism during his lifetime. "During the first five years of the Netzah Yehuda Battalion, the Haredi world fought us tooth and nail. Rabbi Shteinman was one of our supporters, though clearly his support was expressed discreetly. Today, everybody understands that joining up to serve in the IDF is one of the best options for a young man who is not cut out for sitting and studying.

"My dream is that there will be an ultra-Orthodox major general, and God willing I will live to see this come true," he says. In parallel, Hager is working to establish a first Haredi Beit HaHayal (Soldier's House), near to the government precinct in Jerusalem, where in addition to the usual amenities, there will also be a Bet Midrash for soldiers on vacation to sit and study Torah. "We have some 180 lone soldiers, either due to their parents having severed relations with them or as they do not want to harm their siblings' chances of obtaining a worthy shidduch."

The military draft law is about to reappear on the public agenda, with the who knows what attempt to reach consensus. The Ministry of Finance is pressing to lower the exemption age for Haredim to 21 in order to enable them to enter the labor market, a demand that has led to broad public objection. Hager is also staunchly opposed to this initiative and says that not only is this superfluous, but it will create both economic and security-related damage, not to mention the issue of equality between the various sectors of the population in Israel.

"Why enact a law that is no good for anyone? The exemption age should be 23 as prior to this it is of absolutely no use. The problem is that the economists at the Ministry of Finance are not ultra-Orthodox and thus they do not understand that no Haredi in his right mind will go to work before he gets married, which on average tends to occur at the age of 22. Moreover, if you lower the draft age to 21, then why should a Haredi join a combat unit? In any event, he will be discharged straight afterward. For an individual who is not suited to the life of sitting and learning in yeshiva, the timespan from the age of 18 to 23 is much too long. A move such as the one that the Ministry of Finance seeks to initiate will harm the economy, the draft, and basically, everybody will suffer. If this would contribute to the state in some manner and as a result we would have to lose a couple of hundred soldiers then I wouldn't say a word, but if the end result is damage to the economy, also to the draft process and it will create a total imbalance – then what have we to gain from it?"

Torah Study is tantamount to giving up your life

According to him, there is a need to create a model in which the duration of service of soldiers who are not of critical value to the establishment should be reduced to two years, while the wages of combat soldiers and those in intelligence units should be substantially increased. Increased supervision of the yeshivot should lead to a situation in which only those individuals who are really learning will remain there, and the fact that the exemption age will be 23 would lead young Haredi men who are not learning to join the IDF.

"I speak with politicians and public figures. One of the senior figures with whom I spoke didn't believe that the young Haredim would not enter the labor market at the age of 21 because of shidduch problems. I phoned up an ultra-Orthodox woman at random and asked her if the young men would go out and work if they were to be discharged at the age of 21. She basically said you must be joking and that there was no way this would happen."

They will tell you that this isn't fair either. That there is a need for equality in shouldering the burden and that everybody needs to go to the army rather than learning in yeshiva.

"People really do not understand how much of a sacrifice is required to sit and learn. As far as I am concerned, the fact that the Haredi public figures and politicians do not invest in an effort to explain what people give up in order to learn Torah, is a serious flaw. In the history of the State of Israel, there hasn't been a single case of somebody seeking to dodge the draft, and so he decided to go and learn Torah. It is simply not a viable option as it is much too difficult. People give up their lives, literally, in order to learn Torah, and just as there are outstanding sportsmen, so there also ought to be outstanding Torah scholars. My aim is that anybody who is not learning Torah should be drafted into an ultra-Orthodox military framework, this would do them the world of good.

"My dream is for the IDF to establish another two ultra-Orthodox battalions in the format of the Netzah Yehuda Battalion. The army genuinely wants more ultra-Orthodox soldiers, but it is currently unable to draft more than a further two battalions. In the IDF they won't go shouting this from the treetops, but just go and ask any former Head of the IDF Manpower Directorate. The army would simply collapse."

Q: And how can we cause the Haredim to come?

"We need to encourage people within Haredi society to enlist via diverse means, and at the same time to increase supervision of the Torah study institutions and academies. Those young ultra-Orthodox men on the streets really need to join up. Have you ever seen people running to pay taxes? There is a state, there are laws, there are requirements, and that's all there is to it."

 Q: Two additional Haredi battalions, with kosher mehadrin food and without women - I'm not sure that the secular public would be ready to accept that.

"True, it is difficult for the army to provide the specific conditions for the Haredim. To set up a battalion without women is a highly complex task, among others due to the courses that the combat soldiers need to take, such as medics, snipers, or officers' course. But at the same time, people also need to understand that we do not seek to change the Haredi way of life. Let's say for argument's sake that the IDF decides to establish an Arab unit. We couldn't tell them not to pray five times a day, correct? We need to find a way of incorporating the way of life of the various sectors within the population into the different IDF units."

Both sides are to blame for the incitement

Alongside the activity relating to the Netzah Yehuda Battalion, Hager is involved in numerous initiatives designed to advocate and encourage the study of mathematics and English in ultra-Orthodox society, based on the simple understanding that this is the future of the State of Israel. "I came to the conclusion that the integration of Haredim into the army and the economy is critical 25 years ago, and as long as this is not occurring – this constitutes a clear and present danger to the state over the next 50 years. Unfortunately, nobody listened to me.

"The Haredi army is black gold, just like oil. Until a decade ago the Israeli high-tech industry grew exponentially thanks to the Russian immigrants, but that is now over. Now is the turn of the Haredi public. Almost every second child suffers to some extent from attention deficit disorders due to the prevalence of screens. Where can you find children who are able to focus on one thing from morning until night? They just lack English and math."

Q: The Haredi MKs are increasing the stipends for yeshiva students, that is not the way to inspire people to enter the world of high-tech, on the contrary.

"I agree with you. It's sad. We were very close to getting the Belz Hasidic group to include core subjects in their educational institutions, and then pressure was brought to bear on the Belz Rebbe to give this up. The Haredi politicians have no idea of the needs of the grass roots and they are harming the chances of the rank and file in Haredi society. All the politicians are causing damage. I am shocked at the way in which they speak in the Knesset, how can we raise kids when they see this manner of speaking? Horrific turns of speech. You are the elected individuals who are supposed to represent the people. I would turn off the microphone and let each one speak in turn. This is an affliction that also affects the ultra-Orthodox MKs. They ought to be a role model for others."

"This is also true when it comes to the vicious expressions used against the Haredim. There is incitement and it is making inroads into all forms of dialogue. The politicians need to take a grip on themselves and understand that now is the time to amend this. There is a saying that you need two to tango. It is clear that the blame lies with both sides, and we need a responsible adult to assume responsibility and solve this crisis. In the Passover Haggadah, we say, 'For not only one enemy has risen up against us to destroy us.' The fact that there is a severe lack of unity is what is rising up now to destroy us and we need to put a stop to it immediately. We don't necessarily need to agree with one another, but we must stand together, despite the differences of opinion."

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Three hours after doing an allnighter in the Knesset to pass the state budget – the largest in Israeli history – Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich gave an interview to Israel Hayom rather than catch up on some sleep. 

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Clearly feeling a sense of great satisfaction and breathing a sigh of relief after clearing a major hurdle, Smotrich tried to sidestep the infighting in the coalition during the interview. Despite not shutting an eye for more than two hours, he comes alive when talking about his economic agenda. 

Q: Congratulations on the budget. Are you happy with it despite the heavy criticism – including by your Finance Ministry officials – on the wasteful spending for Coalition partners' demands? 

"It wasn't an easy feat to accomplish; nevertheless, this is a truly good budget, and it is also fiscally conservative and it reins in spending, which is critical in the inflationary environment we are in. This environment poses the biggest challenge for this government right now. I said right from the get-go that we will keep spending in check. We have to ensure that our fiscal policy is in lockstep with the monetary policy, otherwise, the Bank of Israel governor will have to hike interest rates again and again."

Having passed the budget, it's clear that Smotrich exudes confidence, resulting in clear-cut statements on taxation – and head-on attacks on the media. "We went for a budget that sets a target deficit of 0.8-0.9%, but now the chief economist says we are going to hit 1.1%. But even if we end up with 2%, this is nothing to worry about. All the lies in the media, all the doom and gloom about cutting back on programs, and the articles on how my ministry is supposedly considering raising taxes. But I am willing to say – taxes won't go up; there won't be cuts to programs, because we don't need it."

Q: Can you pledge that you will meet the goal of having a 0.9% deficit at most?

"No, but I don't have to. The normal deficit goal is 2.5%. We are now in an era of global uncertainty, and perhaps this could be a great opportunity for the Israeli market. We have a safety net: Even if we see revenues drop between 30 to 40 billion shekels in 2024, we will have still not crossed the 2-2.5% threshold. We will not raise taxes, perhaps even go the other way." 

Q: Let's talk about the special property tax fund that will use money collected by rich municipalities in order to fund projects in poorer ones. 

"For more than 20 years the Knesset has been trying to enact it. When I became minister, the Budget Division told me that it should be used as a bargaining chip so that I can eventually take it out of the budget as part of a compromise. I got into the matter and spent hours on end studying this. I told them, 'No way; we are going to have it passed. This is the right thing to do, and we have to legislate it.'"

Q: But you are going to hurt the revenues of strong municipalities that know how to use the infrastructure at their disposal, like Tel Aviv.

"But who built this infrastructure? The state. Tel Aviv is Tel Aviv not because of Mayor Ron Huldai. If you put Huldai in Dimona, Dimona would not become Tel Aviv because it is not on the sea and it is not in central Israel. And above all, the state has not invested hundreds of billions of shekels in Dimona over the years on infrastructure."

Q: The budget doesn't tackle the cost of living that much.

"We have bolstered the disposable income Israelis have in a significant way by expanding negative income tax eligibility, by giving work allowances to those who get lower pay, and by increasing tax breaks for those who have children. The reform in the meat industry increases the maximum period in which you can sell frozen goods from 80 days to 120 days – like in the rest of the world. This will increase imports. The budget gives more in direct subsidies and we do not hurt farmers. Imports have been down because measures that were supposedly against pests created barriers. The budget invests two billion shekels ($536 million) for the next four years in encouraging innovation so that more technology can be phased into service and thus agricultural output will increase." 

Q: What about cracking down on monopolies? What happened to that bill? 

"That bill was not fully honed. We have received many inquiries from small manufacturers who have to rely on large distribution networks because they cannot get direct access to supermarkets. We are going to set up next week a committee that is similar to what they did to the banks, and in three months we will get recommendations. The main thing we have proved in this budget is that I am not beholden to anyone and I have the guts – and the ability – to fight over this. We are going to pull up our sleeves to tackle centralization and monopolies.

"As a right-winger who espouses a free market, I don't want to intervene but as a government, our goal is to create conditions for real competition, and that is why we have to break up monopolies that have been built over decades. These are monopolies that have been built under the auspices of the law with regulatory worlds that have been ultimately serving them, the strong actors. These are powerful forces. A beverage corporation has become the owner of a media outlet. These companies invest hundreds of millions of shekels in advertising. I have no doubt that I will have a difficult fight ahead. We will start with the food, and then move on to big pharma and other sectors that are centralized and we will open them up to competition."

Q: Do you believe prices will start coming down during your term? 

"The answer is yes. Absolutely. We will promote decentralization and the lifting of regulatory barriers. Look at Carrefour. It sells some 5,000 products across Europe, but only 1,000 in Israel because it has to go through so much red tape, like the Via Dolorosa."

Q: You passed an increase for the allowances given to Haredim in yeshivot and you added more funding to Haredi institutions that don't teach the core curriculum, defying the advisors in the Finance Ministry and most of the economists. 

"That is correct. Let me say upfront that we have maintained the preferred status of the state educational system, and we continue to prioritize incentives to teach core curriculum subjects. There are some institutions that get only 55% of the funding because they teach only 55% of the core curriculum. This criterion was set more than 20 years ago. Over the years, due to various pay benefits and after-school programs and so forth, the 100% rose to 200%, but the 55% stayed in place. So in effect, the 55% became 24%. Now we are just restoring it to its former size. This should be commended…I don't hide my views – I hold Torah study in high regard and I think this is an important value in a  Jewish state. Those who are good at it will continue to do it, and those who are not will join the job market at a much earlier age. I know one thing: Coercion never worked and will never work. Those who think that what has failed for the past 75 years [will work] can do so until the cows come home; however right this stance may be, it is not a smart one." 

Q: So you believe that increasing the funding for Haredi schools will not be a negative incentive for integrating Haredim in the job market, despite what your professional staff say? 

"You must understand that that the opinion of those professionals [in the Budget Division] doesn't mean that all those billions in increases will cost us trillions in 2060, it just means that the new funding will cement the current trajectory we are already in. I believe this prediction is wrong. While there is no denying that one of the biggest challenges for the Israeli economy and for me as finance minister is to integrate populations into the job market, you have to keep in mind that the Haredi population has been undergoing a major transformation, including social changes and cultural shifts. There is no one quick fix.

"In the grand scheme of things, Haredi women do go out to work, Haredi men's integration has been too slow but it's happening. I can't force them to enter professions that involve subjects they did not study in school. I don't think a hungry or poor boy will be more inclined to join the job market – the opposite is true. And we see this conclusion in every study on the matter: When a person has a better life, they open up to the world and want more, and this makes him integrate more."

Q: So the Budget Division was wrong?

"I think it is wrong, but I have a great working relationship with them. I like them and respect them. I never stop them from issuing their analysis papers, since I am a real democrat. But eventually, I have to decide. And it is my prerogative and my duty."

Q: You really think your approach will help integrate Haredim? 

"I have a conceptual disagreement with them. I come from a constituency that does serve and integrates in the job market. But I also know how to admire the Haredi dedication to Torah study and their willingness to pay a price for it, to live a simple life in poverty, and to admire the large families and their dedication to good deeds and mutual assistance and care." 

Smotrich does eventually concede in the interview that over the long run, Israel has to make changes if it wants to see a bright socioeconomic future. "I know that they know," he says, "that something has to be done on the sidelines." 

Q: Can you understand why those who do not see Torah study the same way don't want to subsidize yeshiva students and that this has an adverse economic effect on Israelis? What is your answer to those who say that the state prefers to give yeshiva students stipends but not university students? 

"These are not stipends. They just retroactively get more funding due to the increase in funding for Haredi institutions. A student in the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design costs the state some 38,000 shekels (USD 10,000) a year. We subsidize this. We subsidize students who major in gender studies and the arts. We invest in them. A normal country invests in the arts, in humanities, in arts. If everything is viewed through an economic prism, then let's fund only those faculties that are conducive to the economy's productivity. I am not dismissive of the humanities or Bezalel, but what's the contribution to the economy in having students throw paint on the wall and call it art? Those who want to pursue gender studies should pay for it, why should we fund it? Because that is what a normal country does. If I give Habima – the national theater – 50 million shekels ($14 million) and fund cinema with tens of millions of shekels, then I can also fund other values. The funding for yeshivot is much lower. The yeshivot get some 2 billion shekels ($530,000) a year, and the Council for Higher Education gets 13.5 billion ($3.6 billion). Can you tell me how much of that really goes into the sciences and how much goes into the humanities? That's fine, I am for this; woe to us if we do not fund culture and sports, but if we do all this – I can also give two billion shekels to yeshivot because they are a key part of society for those sitting in the government. We fund the general public the most; the Haredim get only a little portion."

Q: But when an Israeli looks at the distribution of Coalition funds, they see the government's values, not his own. It all goes to the religious, the Haredim, and to the settlements. 

"That is not true. We increased budgets across the board, in all fields. Only one percent of the budget actually reflects the government's values, that is what democracy is all about. I wanted to give funds to the Oppositions's causes as well, and even set aside part of the budget for that. I told them, 'Let's have a proper discussion, give me some causes,' but they decided to shout and fight rather than take what I was offering. So we are funding pro-family projects with several million shekels, what's so bad about that? I'm not ashamed of that. These are my values. I got seven seats in the election, I too have the right to promote my causes under the auspices of democracy." 

Smotrich quips that he would like Israel Hayom to make "two thirds of the interview about economics," in what is a telling example of how he wants to avoid talking about the government infighting as manifested in the fissures in his relations with Otzma Yehudit leader Itamar Ben-Gvir and the Haredi parties.

Q: Ben-Gvir has accused you of giving handouts to your friends and forgetting about the Negev and the Galilee. The Haredim wanted more funding, but you adamantly refused at first. Is that how the system works? simple extortion?

"You overdramatize everything. These are things every finance minister has to experience. The coalition agreements were initially about 70 billion shekels in total but I insisted on limiting them to 12.5 billion, and then we added a few billions. This came along with spending cuts because I refused to break this limit. It was actually Itamar, for whom I have a lot of respect, who got the best treatment when it comes to the coalition agreements. I think he launched a cynical campaign on the backs of the Negev and the Galilee. The budget has billions of shekels for those two areas. To say that there is not enough money just because some ministry that is held by your party is untruthful, unfair, and non-collegial."  

Q: But this has become a pattern – the Haredim and Ben-Gvir made threats and got what they wanted, and this was not the first time that Ben-Gvir boycotted the government. 

"Threats must be out of the question. This government is good for the Right and for the Israelis. The alternative is to have the Left partner with the enemies and supporters of terrorism. That is why we have to make sure the government stays in power. Boycotting votes must be out of the question and I think that on this issue, Itamar was gravely wrong and everyone says so. He wanted more funds, and that's fine, but I hope he doesn't boycott again." 

Q: In light of all these tensions, is it safe to say that you and Ben-Gvir won't run on the same list next time around when there is a Knesset election? 

"There is so much time left before a general election is held: three and a half years. I have tremendous respect for Itamar and we have a great professional relationship. We made sure the budget supports his programs so that he succeeds in the important task he has taken upon himself. We ran together on the same list for a tactical reason. The fact that Otzma Yehudit and Religious Zionism are two separate parties is not new. Will they once again stand for election as a technical bloc? You can ask me in three and a half years.

Smotrich says he has "daily, and close" contact with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu every day. He says they are in lockstep on economic issues as well. He further stresses that there is no basis for the rumors that he threatened to resign during the budget talks. Now that the budget is over, the judicial reform appears to be heading back to the forefront. 

Q: S&P decided to keep Israel's credit rating in place because the reform was put on hold. The protests are waning. Are you now going to put it back on the table? 

"The credit rating agencies didn't cite the reform; they cited the uncertainty that has been created due to irresponsible elements that were willing to take down the house with them, who went to those agencies and asked to take down the rating and scare off investors based on lies on the reforms. You ask me if I am willing to capitulate to those who want to hurt the economy and threaten to drill a hole in the ship because they don't like the democratic choices? I will not do that, because if I do, we could just end the story called Israel and close the book on democracy. We were elected – and not by a thin margin – based on a clear judicial platform and I am saying this outright: The process of judicial reform has been set in motion and cannot be rolled back. Had State Party leader Benny Gantz looked at this through a rational prism, we would have already reached an understanding but the Opposition has no interest in reaching that point and creating calm; they just want to engage in dialogue for the sake of dialogue. As far as they are concerned, this is just a pastime."

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After struggling with depression and anxiety for years, Y. attempted to handle the situation on his own. Without support from his local community, he lacked a space to freely speak out about his mental health struggles. As a result, his work suffered and he struggled to hold down a job.

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He felt the stigma surrounding mental health acutely and paid a steep price. An image of Y. standing tall and proud today is on display at the Jerusalem College of Technology (JCT) campuses as one of the volunteers who participated in Deconstructing Stigma – a project spearheaded by McLean Hospital, the largest psychiatric affiliate of Harvard Medical School, who teamed up with JCT and its Israeli partner OGEN – Association for the Advancement of Mental Health in Israel, to bring McLean's landmark mental health awareness campaign to Israel. Additional posters are on display at Sharee Zedek Medical Center. As a member of the Haredi community, he represents an anomaly because of his willingness to speak out when society encouraged him to be quiet.

There's a certain mystique and curiosity behind mental illness, where people want to know what occurs between a therapist and their patient but are too afraid to ask. With Deconstructing Stigma, we're here to say, "Please ask us." This global effort to humanize mental illness is crucial in Israel, a country in a region where vulnerability is a sign of weakness and where being a "gibor" (hero) is paramount. According to the Ministry of Health, suicide is the second-most common cause of death for Israeli males ages 15-24 and third-most common for females in that age bracket. Further, nearly half of Israel's population suffers at some point in life from mental health issues, with anxiety and depression the most common illnesses.

Despite how common mental health challenges are, the stigma around them still exists. A Myers-JDC-Brookdale Institute study revealed that even though 18% of adults said they were experiencing psychological distress, most of them did not seek professional help to address their concerns. However, that attitude is starting to change, and this campaign couldn't have happened at a better time. If there was ever a silver lining to the COVID-19 pandemic, it's that it helped chip away at this stigma, because many suddenly found themselves isolated and struggling, creating a space where it finally felt okay to not be okay.

Yet for the Haredi community, the relationship with mental health is even more complex. Jewish religious texts are rife with encouragement and praise for healing the sick. The Rambam says that "bodily health and wellbeing are a path to God" and that it's impossible to have knowledge of the creator when one is sick. Why, then, is protecting our physical body so revered while one's mental health is not only ignored but taboo to discuss in many Haredi circles? As Psychology Today states, "The small amount of research that has occurred indicates that Haredi Jews with mental health issues often avoid using official mental health services, and sometimes tend to consult such services only in serious cases. In other words, Haredi Jews with common mental disorders such as depression or anxiety may remain untreated for these issues."

Haredim are known to treat the healing of mental health with suspicion, and the very idea of acknowledging that there's a problem is seen as taboo. But slowly, we're seeing Haredim who are willing to come forward, and change is on the horizon. Participants in our campaign – who came from all walks of Israeli life from Haredim to secular Jews to Arabs and everything in between – all agreed to have a life-sized poster telling their most intimate stories in a public setting. While they come from diverse backgrounds, the one thing they have in common is that they strive to be mental health ambassadors who hope that by telling their stories, others will come forward to tell their own.

The other aspect of this campaign was educating the healers. To that end, the campaign will also feature a research project done in collaboration with Prof. David H. Rosmarin, PhD, from McLean Hospital and Harvard Medical School, and Prof. Steven Tzvi Pirutinsky, PhD, from Touro University. Students who conducted the research are JCT's nursing students from Ofek, the Selma Jelinek School's special track for Haredi female nursing students, who participated in a comprehensive study with the volunteers so they could understand that there is nothing to fear when treating or associating with someone with mental illness. Like cancer, a broken bone, or pneumonia, mental health issues must be treated with compassion and respect. The 30 fourth-year nursing students conducted interviews with the 22 volunteers, and their perspective regarding mental illness changed dramatically. After getting to know their stories, it wasn't unusual to hear the students say, "Not only do I want to treat these people, these people are like me and in a different reality, we could have been friends."

With this campaign, we hope that more members of the Haredi community realize that it is far more damaging to ignore mental illness than to address it head-on.

Stuart Katz is the founding director of OGEN – Association for the Advancement of Mental Health in Israel.

Dr. Zvika Orr is a senior lecturer in the Selma Jelinek School of Nursing at the Jerusalem College of Technology.

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Mexican authorities arrested a leader of an extremist ultra-orthodox Jewish sect in southern Mexico accused of organized crime and human trafficking, state and federal officials said Tuesday.

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Officials also said an unspecified number of women and children were removed from the Lev Tahor group's compound. The organized crime office of the Attorney General's Office led the weekend operation in the municipality of Tapachula near Mexico's border with Guatemala, said a federal official who insisted on speaking anonymously because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the case.

A state law enforcement official, who also was not authorized to speak publicly about the case, identified the arrested leader as Menachem Endel Alter of Jerusalem.

On Tuesday, Moshe Alter, Endel Alter's brother, delivered food to about two dozen women and children held at a government shelter. He said authorities had also taken away a 3-month-old baby whose mother was now in the shelter. He said he did not know where the baby was taken. At the shelter gate, girls and young women wearing long, flowing white hooded robes shouted at officials and banged on the perimeter wall to protest the detentions.

"They are illegally detained," said Nissan Malka, one of the protesters. Moshe Alter said another man from the community was also arrested over the weekend, but authorities did not confirm the second arrest. Members of the community identified him as Moshe Joseph Rosner. Moshe Alter said the trouble stems from what he called a political-religious conflict with former members of Lev Tahor who are trying to dismantle it.

Lev Tahor has had legal problems elsewhere. Last November, two leaders of the group were convicted of kidnapping and child sexual exploitation crimes in New York. They allegedly kidnapped two children from their mother to return a 14-year-old girl to an illegal sexual relationship with an adult male. The sect is known to have members in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Guatemala and Israel. The events played out over the Jewish new year Rosh Hashanah, which concludes Tuesday at sundown.

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