Social Justice in Israel. 2011

By Jonathan Danilowitz

Israel is aflame. Figuratively.

It began weeks ago, with doctors protesting their low salaries; then the nurses joined in complaining there are not enough staff positions to cope with overcrowded wards. Then a national campaign began because of the high price of dairy products, and that soon spread to other consumerables. Recently “the students” (a wide-ranging designation if ever there was one) began a campaign to achieve affordable housing. They were joined by “young couples”, and then by single mothers, working mothers, the aged, the disabled, the unemployed – all yelling for price reductions, lower taxes, affordable health care, affordable housing.

The protests have been largely a-political, although it didn’t take long for politicians to spot the niche. Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu is taking flak from all sides, even though the situation – a result of years of social justice errors and geo-political issues – is far from his making.

Israel’s economy is strong. Israel recovered quickly from the world financial crisis, and real estate prices have remained stable (part of the problem apparently). Israel’s currency stands up well to market forces and unemployment is at an all-time low. Tourism is at an all-time high, restaurants are packed, hotels booked solid for the summer.

Yet there is a problem. There is social injustice. The tax system, and especially indirect taxes – VAT, fuel taxes, import taxes (often protecting local industries) – is unfair to the middle and lower class consumers. Israelis are taxed heavily.

The problem as I see it is that “the students” and most other Israelis don’t understand where their tax money is going. They know they are taxed, heavily, but why? Is Israel another Zimbabwe, Saudi Arabia, or Egypt, with a rich-as-Croesus dictator? I don’t think so. So where are the tax revenues going?

First – to the enemy within: The men of the Haredi community (ultra-religious Jews), and some other streams of Judaism don’t believe in work. They believe the state must support them while they spend their days studying. They do not serve in the military. They do nothing for the community. They are parasites. They demand state-funded separate schooling for their children. Our tax money goes to support them. Moreover, over the years they have managed to prevent many services that citizens see as their right, from operating on the Sabbath. Trains, buses, airlines, to name just a few. That means huge infrastructure investment that is idled from Friday afternoon to Saturday nights, at great cost, not to mention the inconvenience, caused to Israeli citizens.

(There is another hot-potato issue that I’ll mention just in passing: The settlements in Judea & Samaria, aka. the West Bank. At least in theory, if Israel were to withdraw all settlements, peace would break out. But Israel’s religious right keeps the pressure on the government to refuse to withdraw, for religious god-given reasons, at a massive cost to the country. And food prices? Because of the same religious streams, almost all food products have to be produced under rabbinical supervision. Who pays the rabbis’ salaries? The poor taxpayer of course. So all food is more expensive. I’m not talking about meat only. Bread, milk products, candy, fish, pasta – everything is produced with a rabbi standing by to supervise. Even bottled water!)

The second major drain on Israel is security. If you’ve been through an airport lately you know what I mean. In Israel, security is everywhere, thanks to the curse of Islamic terror which encircles western society. There are security guards outside every mall, most cinemas and theaters, all government institutions, even nursery schools and homes for the aged. (Terrorists will attack anywhere they can as long as they kill Jews). Not only is it an inconvenience, but the costs add to our tax burden. The other side of the coin is the astronomical cost of maintaining our army, air force and navy to make Israel a safe place to live.

So, should the protestors – justified as they may be – be attacking the government, or should they be demanding social justice from the religious extremists, and demanding that the world recognize that Islamic terror is a curse? The time has come to remove that curse, by recognizing that multi-culturalism is a failed policy. The time has come to recognize that religious tolerance – live and let live – is a two-way street. The time has come for social justice by removing the two major causes of social injustice: Jewish religious extremism and Islamic terror. "Religion 2011" is causing terrible harm.

Next time you vote, remember these lessons. Don’t cry afterwards because you ignored the issues.

Jonathan Danilowitz is a Contributing Writer for The Propagandist living in Israel.