We can continue to flounder in the muck of the battles, slander each other, feed the media and let the politicians on both sides make political profit. On the other hand, we can also try to think outside the box and propose a move that, although it does not solve the problems from the root, will at least provide an immediate, even if not perfect, answer to some of the basic problems.

About 400,000 Haredi men and women are of working age (25-64). The employment rate among Haredi women stands at 79%, similar to the rate of women in the non-Haredi population (81%). The big problem is among Haredi men, whose employment rate is only 52%. Even the men who do work usually hold low-paid jobs – which is the result of the lack of quality professional education. A Haredi man earns, on average, half the salary of a non-Haredi Jewish man (8,800 NIS compared to 17,000 NIS). Bottom line, about 65% of the Haredi workforce participates in the labor market. More than 250 thousand Haredi go to work every morning. Beside them, 100 thousand men do not work and invest all their time in Torah study.

The lion’s share of Haredi society is already in the labor market. The big problem is productivity and low wages, and, as mentioned, these are the result of a lack of appropriate education.

Instead of continuing to grumble and complain about an unproductive sector, it’s time to produce adapted solutions for said sector, which will dramatically improve the professional abilities of the Haredi who are already in the labor market – or who will enter it in a short time.

Unlike a secular man whose preparation process for his professional career actually begins in elementary school, continues through high school and reaches the academy, the Haredi man’s professional career usually begins at the beginning of the third decade of his life – and after his marriage.

Therefore, in order to optimally integrate the Haredi man into the labor market, a strategic plan must be implemented that will include professional, high-quality and supervised training courses adapted to the Haredi lifestyle and the later age at which the professional career of Haredi men begins. Instead of the Haredi man taking the first job that comes his way, which in many cases is dead-end job with a low salary, he will have the opportunity to find a professional path that suits him and integrate into the employment market in an optimal way.

It was only recently that the high grades achieved by the Haredi seminar graduates in the accounting course were published, despite the fact that they studied in a unique and adapted course without an academic degree. And in the field of high-tech, in collaboration with senior industry officials, a non-academic program was built for girls of Haredi seminars -which was an extraordinary success. Its graduates are integrated into senior positions in the industry and earn a salary similar to their counterparts.

Following a study we conducted at the Haredi Institute for Public Affairs, in collaboration with Aharon Institute, the MeGo program was created, operated through the Kemach Foundation, in which Haredi youth without prior background are trained for high-tech jobs. These are clear examples of how in various professions training can be adapted to the Haredi sector, without an academic degree and without harm the professional quality.

True, these solutions are not perfect, and indeed it might have been better for the professional training to begin at a younger age and on the accepted academic path, but as of now this is the best we can do, as we will not be able to reach more profound agreements anytime soon.

So, what is more important to us – to win an idealistic debate, or to reach a solution that will advance us as a society? I suggest choosing the second path.

Meir Hirshman is a Haredi research fellow in the Haredi Institute for Public Affairs, chief editor and comptroller of a major Torah literature project in Machon Yerushalayim and a guest commentator on Haredi radio stations on political and social issues. 

The Article was first published in Hebrew on Yisrael Hayom (Israel Today)

For Employment data in the Wohl Data Centre click here.

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The survey data shows that 58% of the Haredi public think that since the establishment of the government and the beginning of the protests against the judicial reform, the attitude towards them in the public sphere has worsened. Also, 56% of the Haredi public who have a regular or random interactions with non-Haredi population claim that they have personally experienced hostility towards them. Despite all this, the absolute majority of the Haredi society finds the feeling of unity in Israeli society important (79%), and for the majority it is also important for the secular society to view the Haredi public favorably (74%).

Main Findings

Integration of Haredi people in Israeli society

42% of the Haredi public believes that the judicial reform and the public uproar that followed did not have a positive or negative effect on the issue of the integration of the Haredim into Israeli society and that the situation remains unchanged. In contrast, 49% think that the reform and the public uproar harmed integration, and 9% actually claim that the events contributed to the integration of the Haredim in Israeli society.

Seclusion versus involvement

42% of the Haredi public are in favor of increasing the involvement of Haredi in Israeli society, 36% are in favor of continuing to conduct themselves as they have been until today – this is compared to 22% who want to increase the separation from secular society.

Analysis by denominations gives a more precise picture. 39% of the Lithuanian current are in favor of increasing seclusion, 36% want to continue to be conducted as it has been until today and 25% are in favor of increasing involvement in Israeli society. Among the Hassidic, 27% are in favor of increasing seclusion, 46% are in favor of continuing with the existing situation and 27% are in favor of increasing involvement. Among Sephardic, 15% are in favor of increasing seclusion, 36% support the continuation of the existing situation and 49% are in favor of increasing involvement.

The importance of the sense of unity in Israeli society

For the absolute majority of the Haredi public (79%) the sense of unity in Israeli society is important, compared to 10% who did not indicate the importance of the issue and 12% who stated that this is not important to them.

When segmented by denomination, 63% of the Hassidic value the sense of unity in Israeli society, as well as 85% of the Sephardi public, 74% of the Lithuanian public and 95% in the Ba’alei Teshuva public.

Surprisingly, among the Hassidic denomination, the lowest rate of answers that considered unity in Israeli society important was recorded, with 21% of them stating that unity is not important at all or almost not important. This compares to 12% among the Lithuanian, 9% among the Sephardi and 5% among Ba’alei Teshuva.

At the same time, for 74% of Haredi society, it is important that secular society looks upon them favorably. Among the Sephardi denomination, the rate was particularly high compared to the other currents, with 82% of them considering it important, compared to 67% among the Lithuanians and Hassidic, and 76% among the Ba’alei Teshuva.

Hostility towards Haredi people in the public sphere

58% of the Haredi public believes that since the establishment of the government and the beginning of the protests against the reform, the attitude towards Haredi society in the public sphere has worsened. 30% claim that relations remained unchanged and 11% think that relations actually improved.

When segmented by denomination, it seems that among the public from the Lithuanian public the perception that the attitude towards Haredi society has worsened is more prevalent (74%), compared to the Hassidic people (51%), the Sephardi people (53%) and the Ba’alei Teshuva (52%).

On the other hand, 46% of Hassidic people feel that the attitude towards Haredi society in the public sphere remains unchanged, compared to 21% of Lithuanians, 33% of Sephardi people and 19% of Ba’alei Teshuva.

No significant differences were found between those who live in a Haredi city and a mixed city.

Hostility on a personal level

72% of the Haredi society has not personally experienced hostility directed towards them for being Haredi since the establishment of the government, compared to 28% who stated that they had experienced hostility on a personal level.

The survey also examined the level of hostility experienced by Haredi who have frequent or random interactions with secular society on a daily basis, as well as among Haredi men who have entered the labor market or are studying vocational studies. The survey shows that 56% of those who study vocational studies or come into frequent or random contact with non-Haredi society have personally experienced hostility.

The most important issues that the government must address

Judicial reform is at the top of the list of issues that the Haredi public want the government to address and resolve. 43% placed judicial reform in first place among a variety of issues on the agenda.

The cost of living is only in second place (32%), the Draft agreement in third place (13%), the housing crisis in fourth place (5%) and other issues such as security and free preschool education were pushed aside.

Partnership with the right-wing coalition

To the question of how the public protest affected your position regarding the “automatic” partnership of the Haredi parties with the right-wing coalition, 22% of the Haredi answered that the protest weakened their support for the partnership, this compared to 53% who answered that their support only strengthened and 25% that their position on the issue has not changed.

When segmented by denomination, 32% of Lithuanians stated that their position regarding the “automatic” partnership of the Haredi parties with the right-wing coalition has weakened, this compared to only 19% of the Hassidic and 14% of the Sephardi.

Another interesting statistic emerged among families where the husband is studying vocational studies. 44% of them replied that their position had weakened in regard to the “automatic” partnership with the right-wing coalition, compared to 38% that their support had strengthened and 19% who replied that their position was not affected.

The survey was carried out by “Direct Polls Ltd” through Mr. Shlomo Filber for the Haredi Institute for Public Affairs.

Survey execution date: May 9, 2023

Sample size: 420 sampled adults (18+ years old) who are a representative sample of Haredi society in Israel.

Sampling error: -/+4.8% at 95% probability.

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Minister Margi showed great interest in promoting the process of characterizing the needs of the Haredi public in a way that is based on data and research. The minister ordered a joint working meeting with the director general of the ministry and the professional teams, in order to advance the plan and bring about a change in the existing situation for the benefit of the Haredi population.

The meeting with the minister, which was held in his office in Jerusalem, was attended by the chairman Eli Paley; CEO Udi Ben-Dror; head of health and welfare Roni Barboy ; research associate  Meir Hirshman ; director of communications and strategy Yaakov Izak and other representatives on behalf of the Haredi institute.

CEO Udi Ben-Dror: “The Haredi population currently does not fully receive the services that the Ministry of Welfare wishes to provide them. This is not due to a lack of budget, but as a result of a lack of accurate data and a lack of sufficient familiarity with the characteristics of Haredi society and its unique needs. The institute’s researchers and the professional teams of the Ministry of Welfare will try to come up together with the right mechanisms, adapting the various Ministry programs to the nature and fabric of Haredi life, and how to ultimately improve the welfare services for the entire Haredi society.”

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The chairman and founder of the Haredi institute, Mr. Eli Paley, opened the event by explaining his reasoning for holding the conference. “I do not associate myself with the faction that sees the judicial reform as a messianic vision that will save Israel, nor with the faction that sees the reform as the collapse of the state,” Paley added. “I am unwilling to live in a country where people who have contributed so much to the country, in the army, the economy and society, live with the feeling that they are facing the end of this state. We must not allow a discourse of losing hope, nor the loss of trust of an entire public in the justice system. We must lead a consensus model that will allow us all to live here together”.

The Haredi parties and the judicial reform

MK Yitzhak Pindrus (United Torah Judaism) and MK Ze’ev Elkin (National Unity) conducted a one-on-one interview with the journalist and editor of “Mishpcha” magazine, Mr. Aryeh Ehrlich. The Interviews addressed the support of the Haredi parties and public for the judicial reform and what is behind it.

MK Yitzhak Pindrus referred to the main reasons why there is a lot of support in the Haredi sector for the judicial reform promoted by the government. According to him, “On the daily level, the public that suffers the most from judicial activism is the Haredi public. Not because it is for or against the Supreme Court, but because the arrangements of life in the State of Israel, when you put them to a legal test, you get yourself into a mess.”

Referring to the criticism of parts of the judicial reform, MK Pindrus stated that he understands that parts of the plan as initially presented were too extreme: “Even MK Yariv Levin admitted that there are parts of the reform as presented then that are very extreme. For example, the abolition of judicial review 15 out of 15 This is clearly improbable to anyone with common sense. This means that there is no judicial review and there are no such conditions in any country in the world. Or when the coalition alone appoints all the judges and does whatever it pleases without restraint, without having to reach an agreement with the opposition.”

MK Pindrus explained the negative attitude of the Haredi public towards the Supreme Court: “Aharon Barak was very smart, he was very careful. With all the judicial activism, you will notice that he did not touch matters of religion and state, he avoided it. The verdict in the draft law he gave five years after his retirement. If the Supreme Court had been smart enough to understand that in a multicultural country, a country of Kibbutz Galuyot (gathering of the Jewish diaspora), the demographics speak for itself – it would not have found the Haredi society there, it would not have interested him.”

MK Ze’ev Elkin criticized the Haredi members of the Knesset and their support for the reform. “I don’t understand why the Haredi politicians chose to be the mere contractors of Bezalel Smotrich and Netanyahu and take the fire for them, without any ability to gain anything from it,” he claimed. “We are not opposed automatically to everything the government does. In fact, we supported the military operation that the government correctly led. Everything that is right and good for the country – we will support it.”

MK Elkin further said: “We need a reform in the judicial system. Many mistakes have been made it, but the question is what kind of reform and how do we pass it”. Later he added: “When there is something crooked, we don’t build something even more crooked, but try to balance it. Those who want to understand real change must create consensus, as we enacted the Nation-State Bill. I support negotiations, we need to exhaust all possibilities in the negotiations and reach agreements. A real negotiation is underway, but it is still in the early stages. It would be a colossal mistake to surrender to a power trip and not to make a real and consensual reform.”

MK Elkin also criticized the municipal tax fund initiative that the government is promoting and linked it to the judicial reform: “The municipal tax fund is a serious mistake, and its biggest opponents in the committee were the MKs from Likud who the Prime Minister forced to vote in favor, and they came out humiliated. The similarity between the judicial reform and the municipal tax fund is that once again the government rushes headstrong into a dead-end.”

Judicial reform – a challenge or an opportunity in Secular-Haredi relations?

A panel with the participation of Prof. Yuval Albashan, former Director General of the Ministry of Justice Emi Palmor, journalist Yossi Elituv, Rabbi Adv. Yehoshua Pfeffer and head of employment at the Haredi institute Yehudit Miletzky.

Prof. Yuval Albshan, one of the drafters of the Friedman-Albshan document, said: “[Following the judicial reform,] demons that were locked in our common basement have been released. One of the main ones is the Secular-Haredi issue, and this is the main demon at play here, much more than Judicial Selection Committee. It is a demon that was never resolved or dealt with. Ben-Gurion sensibly evaded it – people think that he crafted the current status quo then out of stupidity, but it was his only way to get the approval of the Haredi associations. Now the demon has been released. When you see the demonstrations on the issue of mandatory military draft, this is not a coincidence nor a provocation. It’s actually very real.”

Prof. Albashan added: “We need to solve the reform even though it is not a problem, only for the reason that after we solve it, we will be able to calm down a bit and then we will have to be required – whether you like it or not – to regulate the relations between the different groups in society. In the end there is a war of religion here.”

The former CEO of the Ministry of Justice, Emi Palmor, commented on the religion and state issues that accompanied the protest against the judicial reform: “I want a Jewish state – Jewish and democratic. I want the balances we have lived with for so many years to be preserved. However, as long as we feel the conservatism, which until today was not at our expense, we find ourselves in a situation where the reform is not an event in the background. This radicalization and separation between us create real fear among some of the public – if we don’t understand this, our situation will turn grim.”

Palmor went on to address the secular response to the crisis. “The secular public is not just an ‘awakened bear’ but a group that has realized that it needs to reconstitute its identity and its values, and that identity and values are not a privilege kept only for the Haredi public. This is going to be the big challenge. It will be much more complex as each group is very, very connected to values. What is our meaning, what is our role, what is our mission – no less than what we heard from our Haredi brothers.”

Rabbi Adv. Yehoshua Pfeffer, head of the Haredi department at Tikva Foundation and editor-in-chief of the magazine “Tzarich Iyun”, emphasized the importance of responsibility towards the state and the societies that make it up: “In 2023 we can’t allow ourselves to think that we are the eternal minority, so we only have to take care of ourselves instead of thinking about the big questions. The message from this is not only intra-Haredi: from the Haredi side we need to think about what we want in terms of big questions of policy in relation to the State of Israel, when we are part of the Jewish majority of this country. But – we also need recognition from the non-Haredi side, we need an honest invitation for real dialogue.”

“I wish for a new treaty between the secular and the Haredi. We will resolve the reform. We will reach some sort of solution, but this is a mere band-aid, that is not the issue. The main issue is what we are talking about here at this conference: Haredi and non-Haredi relations in the State of Israel” he concluded.

Journalist Yossi Elituv referred to the importance of the general public in the current political reality. “We have reached a situation where we are forced to sit down and talk. The “secular bear” that was woken in the winter of 2023 is not going anywhere. The awakening in the secular public also provokes a parallel awakening in Haredi society, of people getting up and asking themselves, what are we actually fighting for? What is really important to us? What will we insist on and what are willing to compromise?” “This discourse had risen, and we have no choice but to sit down and discuss. The decision will be made by us, by every Israeli. Those who thought that the Messiah had arrived are mistaken. We still have a lot of work to do together.”

The panel was concluded by the head of employment at the Haredi institute, Yehudit Miletzky, with a practical proposal for bridging the rifts in Israeli society: “The discourse and events surrounding protest and resistance have raised the flames in Israeli society to extreme levels never seen before. Whether the reform passes or not, it will be very difficult to put them out. One of the most significant ways to connect polar opposites in society is a meeting between individuals, without titles and without stigma. In my opinion, the ideal place for this meeting, unmediated and without politics, is the workplace. If we really want to think about living together and bridging gaps, we must emphasize diversity in the workplace – and that means working with the government, with employers, with the Haredi society, to create this daily encounter.”

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The round table was held following three employment studies conducted by the Haredi institute in the three largest Haredi cities: Jerusalem, Bnei Brak and Beit Shemesh. The studies identified that each population, in each city, has unique needs and characteristics.

The main conclusion emerged from the studies is that there is a great advantage in local occupational thinking and planning, by the municipal authorities who know how to identify those unique needs and characteristics. The decentralization of powers will help the central government to be more focused, more flexible and more accurate in identifying the needs and characteristics of the various groups in the population and working with them.

After a series of meetings between the researchers of the Haredi institute and representatives of the government ministries, it was decided to hold a brainstorming session together with the participation of representatives from the government ministries, the authority for economic and social development of the Haredi sector in the Prime Minister’s office, representatives of local authorities and relevant third sector personnel.

Among the participants in the round table held today at the offices of the Haredi Institute for Public Affairs in Jerusalem, under the title “Decentralization of powers to the local government to manage regional employment”: Roi Assaf, head of the Authority for Economic and Social Development of the Haredi Sector in the Prime Minister’s Office; Yechiel Amoyal, director of “Kivun” center; Eliyahu Wind, Head of Haredi Employment Division at the Jerusalem Municipality; Esti Moskovitch, Head of Employment Directorate in Beit Shemesh and other representatives from local authorities.

Yehudit Miletzky, senior researcher at the Haredi institute, who was behind the studies and initiated the move with the government:

“In order to improve the rate of integration of Haredi men into the labor market and to improve the quality of employment for Haredi women, the tools for entry into quality employment  must be adjusted. The occupational studies we have carried out in the last two years in Bnei Brak, Jerusalem and Beit Shemesh illustrated the great difference and the need in municipal and regional employment planning. The local authorities have a better ability to respond to local employment needs, therefore they should be given more tools and powers for local employment planning – this is in accordance with the diversity, the differences in opportunities, needs and challenges that exist in each municipality.”

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Data processing by the Haredi Institute for Public Affairs shows that there is a relative downgrade in the wages of Haredi men in Israel. In those 20 years of a continuous increase in the employment rate, the wage gap between Haredi men and non-Haredi Jewish men is in the exact opposite direction: in 2000, the wage gap between a non-Haredi Jewish man and a Haredi man was 36%. Today, it stands at 49%. The wage gap is also in line with employment trends: since 2015, the employment rate of Haredi men has stabilized at around 50%, and with it came a stabilization of the wage gap at around 49%.

True, more and more Haredi men are entering the labor market in Israel, an important development for the economic future of Jewish society in Israel. But it seems that the massive actions that are being taken to make this happen – whether these are economic sanctions and benefit cuts or allocation of budgets for guidance, diagnosis and training – are causing Haredi men to be “pushed” into the labor market in an incorrect and ineffective way. Is this what we want to see? Tens of thousands of Haredi men working, at any cost? Are we using the right tools to encourage and enable quality employment of Haredi men?

In the state budget that is being approved these days, there are signs of good news, since for the first time in a long time the topic of professional training is put on the table, after many years of investment only in academic education. There is an understanding that the Haredi population behaves differently in the labor market, and needs systems and tools adapted to its characteristics and needs.

When it comes to the integration of Haredi into the Israeli systems, whether in the economy or the security system or in any other field, creativity and thinking outside the box are required. This is to allow a real and important response to the needs of the Israeli systems, on the one hand, and on the other hand – to allow the public with different characteristics, values and life path to integrate into those systems.

The adaptation of the tools and means for entry into quality employment for the Haredi population does not come from a perception that Haredi society deserves special treatment and excess budgets. It comes from an understanding that Israeli society is complex and diverse. In order to allow all the groups that make up our human mosaic to live and exist together, we need to understand and respect the characteristics and values of the different populations and give them adapted tools, in terms of quality and not quantity.

We must also remember the inter-community responsibility of the Haredi sector: given the fact that today every second Haredi man works, whether he does so alongside studies in the Kollel or without them, the community as well as the state have an obligation to provide basic tools that will allow a graduate of the Haredi education system to provide for his home.

It is necessary to produce adapted modular tools that will enable the acquisition of knowledge and skills required for the labor market, both inside and outside the education system, in a flexible and adapted manner. However, there is a clear understanding that the government work programs require a broad, comprehensive, creative and adapted rethinking of the issue of the employment of Haredi men, so that we can see their optimal integration into the labor market. One can start with research to evaluate the effectiveness of existing programs and initiatives, identify areas for improvement and develop more effective strategies and adjust future budgets and efforts.

Yehudit Miletzky is head researcher in the field of employment at the Institute, and specializes in education and employment in the Haredi community, from gender-based, community-based and geographical perspectives.

The article was published in Hebrew in TheMarker on 21 April 2023

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The subject of discussion was the planned change in the draft and exemption guidelines regarding Yeshiva students, which plans to lower the age of exemption from military service form 26 to 21.

Mr. Paley referred to the clash of the matter of equality in the burden and the Haredi employment rates problem: “We didn’t solve the problem of equality that has accompanied us for 75 years here. The solution that we are trying to suggest addresses the problem of the connection between the Haredi employment challenge and the controversial army. The fact that we haven’t solved the problem of service in the army, the economy cannot allow us to continue for so many years the parade of folly in which a Haredi youth who wants to combine studying Torah and making a living cannot do it because he has to be part of a script in which once a year, he is required to get a draft postponement ”

“הממשלה אומרת – אנו לא יודעים לפתור את בעיית השוויון והביטחון, אבל בואו נפתור קודם את בעיית התעסוקה”. יו”ר המכון החרדי אלי פלאי בריאיון ל-@KalmanLiebskind ב-@kann_news על המתווה להורדת גיל הפטור מגיוס לאברכים: “צריך לשבור את מצעד האיוולת שבו צעיר חרדי לא יכול לשלב תורה ותעסוקה” pic.twitter.com/RTwKmoFprL

— המכון לאסטרטגיה ומדיניות חרדית (@Machon_Haredi) April 17, 2023

Paley added and emphasized that the road to equality does not end with a full service in the IDF. “We have created an anomaly here for 75 years in which the Haredi society does not integrate into the employment market or enters the employment age at a very late age, and all so that we can maintain the appearance of equality”. “Contributing to Israel’s security should not end with the question of whether or not to join the army at the age of 18. There are so many possibilities to harness Haredi society and it’s abilities to Israel’s security needs.”

Lowering the exemption age was included in the Haredi institute recommendations to the new government as part of the 100-day plan for socio-economic advancement for the Haredi population. To read the full program click here.

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CEO Udi Ben Dror spoke and referred to the holding of the conference while the mass demonstrations against the judicial reform are in full swing. He also mentioned that the role of the institute is to promote a strategic discussion of cooperation. After him the researchers of the ultra-Orthodox institute took to the stage and participated in a professional and extensive panel on the challenges the Haredi society faces, and how they are addressed, if at all, by the state budget that is to be approved by the Knesset.

In his speech, Minister Barkat referred to the importance of the high-tech industry for the development of the Israeli economy, and noted that if he looks years ahead, then he would like to see 25% of the workforce in Israel in the high-tech industry, 2 million Israelis in total, including Haredi people. He added that in his opinion, the private sector should be responsible for training them for the labor market.

“The best at doing this is the private sector, followed by the municipal authorities, and in last place is the Israeli government,” the minister explained. “The more responsibility we can transfer to the private sector, the better our situation will be. My ambition is for businessmen in the State of Israel to take full responsibility for the entire issue of employee training – for this matter I estimate that there is almost no budget limit.”

Barkat concluded his speech: “I see a national mission in the success of integrating the Haredi sector into the world of employment. Consider me a partner first of all for planning, and of course after that for execution. The Ministry of Economy and Industry will be at your disposal for any challenge you pose to us – because we have no choice but to succeed.” .

The CEO of the Haredi Institute for Public Affairs, Udi Ben-Dror, referred in his speech to the political discourse surrounding the judicial reform promoted by the government: “What worries the people is where the country is going and what it is going to look like in 10-20 years. On the one hand it’s a crisis, on the other hand it can become an opportunity – and that’s what I hope we’ll be able to do. The role of the Haredi institute is to try to transform the existing discourse from a confrontational one into a discourse of problem solving, strategic advancement and planning.”

Regarding the state budget, Ben-Dror said: “Unfortunately, the state budget as it currently stands lacks a real message in the main challenges of Haredi society – which are actually the challenges of Israeli society as a whole.”

The Panel of the Institute’s Researchers: Is the Budget Plan a Solution or a Problem?

In the panel of the institute’s researchers on the state budget in the light of Haredi society participated the following: Dr. Eitan Regev, VP of Research and Data at the Institute; Yehudit Miletzky, senior researcher in the field of employment; Dr. Shai Stern, senior researcher in the field of housing; and Roni Barboy, senior researcher and head of the fields of education, health, welfare and emergency policy.

Dr. Regev commented on the panel that the word “Haredi” itself has almost no appearances in the state budget, and explained that this indicates that the policy makers lack knowledge and accurate data on the Haredi sector. According to him, an effective budget policy for the Haredi sector, one that will benefit the country as a whole and remove unnecessary barriers, must be based on as detailed data as possible. “In many places, the problem in promoting an effective policy is not a lack of agreement between the right wing and the left, but the lack of sufficient and accurate information about what needs to be done and where the problems are,” he explained.

Dr. Regev provided an example of a plan that is not sufficiently based on data: “There is a lively discussion about building a new Haredi city somewhere in Kasif near Kasife in the southern region.  When we check the employment and transportation data, we know that a third of the Haredi women get to work on foot, another third by public transportation, and another third of them take less than fifteen minutes to get to work. Only 29% of Haredi women have a driver’s license. Now they want to send 40-50 thousand Haredim to a place that is about an hour plus from any employment center. I’m talking about employment that exists today, not in 20 years. This is another example of how data can influence decision-making.”

Yehudit Miletzky, a senior researcher in the field of employment, stated that unfortunately the state budget as it currently stands is not “good news” in the field of employment. “There are two sections in the budget that focus mainly on technological training which will increase the number of Haredi male students, and make technological colleges accessible to more Haredi people. Nevertheless, when we try to think of the budget as a tool for implementing governmential policy, it is impossible to reach the goals of 2030 with the current budget in any way.”

“It is indeed good news that, in between the lines of the budget, the state says that they understand that Haredi people need adjustment, that employment in Haredi society has unique characteristics,” Miletzky added. “The very fact that the government put the issue of professional training on the table within the budget is a new statement after many years of very clear Tracking for the academy. The understanding that ultra-orthodox society today relies mainly on technological training is an important understanding.”

Dr. Shai Stern, a senior researcher in the field of housing, said that the current budget is “insufficient” in finding a solution to the housing crisis, but it is “a bit harmful” when it comes to the Haredi society itself. “The budget removes all kinds of barriers, in licensing, in issuing permits. It acknowledges the housing crisis and tries to give tools to local authorities and district committees to overcome bureaucratic barriers,” Dr. Stern explained. “The problem from our point of view at the institute is, that the budget does not take into account he abilities of the Haredi community to catch up with the gaps that exist in the field of housing; It even goes to the extent of being a bit harmful, in some ways to those abilities, especially when the gaps are greater than those in general society.”

Roni Barboy, senior researcher in the field of education, commented on the fact that the Haredi sector does not appear at all in the budget in the context of education, despite the many challenges that are on the table. Barboy pointed out four major challenges: the lack of a central planning body for the Haredi education system; Basic differences between the Haredi and state education systems; the improvement of supervision and regulation; And improving the quality of core studies (math, English, science and digital literacy) in elementary educational institutions for boys.

Barboy addressed the issue of core studies in the Haredi education system and offered to look at the issue from a different angle. According to her, the Haredi education system is not a single unit, and when it come to discussion on the subject of core studies, it is necessary to separate the education systems for girls and for boys. “If we break down the issue of boys’ education into its smaller parts, that means pre-primary and elementary education, then we have to remember that in these school years all boys have to study core studies to varying extents, between 55% and 100%. The problem is that the quality of the education they receive is incredibly low. It is due to the lack of personnel training – and neither the Ministry of Education nor the local authorities take care of this issue.”

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In the interview elaborated Paley on his article regarding his faith in a shared future for Haredi and secular here in Israel.

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What did we talk about?

• Why do we need a Haredi research institute? How can a member of the Knesset, a mayor, or a senior official in a government office use the institute’s capabilities and data?
• Why does Haredi society need a long-term strategic plan?
• Is the dream of the Zionist melting pot fading away? How do you live together and apart? How can one change the public debate of today?
• In a recent study we found that 48% of Haredi men in Jerusalem work, another 20% would like to work, but for all sorts of reasons are unable to find a job. How can the new government use this to increase employment rates?
• How can we solve the housing problem in Haredi society? Why is it in the interest of the secular public that housing projects for the Haredi be promoted?

The post The Haredi Institute Podcast – Episode 2 appeared first on המכון לאסטרטגיה ומדיניות חרדית.