Former 'Israeli' PM warns of ‘Haredi state’ outside law in ‘Israel’
Note: AI technology was used to generate this article’s audio.
- Former prime minister Naftali Bennett says a parallel ultra-Orthodox system operates beyond state law.
- Warning follows an alleged mob attack on two female soldiers in Bnei Brak.
Former ‘Israeli’ prime minister Naftali Bennett has warned that a “separate Haredi state” is emerging inside ‘Israel’, operating outside the rule of law and endangering public safety.
Attack in Bnei Brak sparks alarm
Bennett issued the warning in a post on X after an incident in Bnei Brak, east of Tel Aviv, in which two female soldiers were subjected to a reported mob assault before police intervened.
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“Parents fear for their daughters’ lives because of the possibility of mass attacks by Jewish rioters,” Bennett wrote. “If we do not deal with this problem at its roots now, it will not disappear. It will explode in all our faces.”
Claims of a parallel system
In a series of posts, Bennett said a “separate Haredi state” has taken shape that does not abide by ‘Israeli’ law. He argued that successive governments have exempted ultra-Orthodox communities from military service, core school subjects such as mathematics and English, and, in many cases, participation in the wider workforce.
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He also criticized what he described as police instructions not to enforce conscription orders, adding that during unrest “the police get angry at the army for not coordinating its entry, as if it were entering Rafah.”
Funding and political responsibility
Bennett said the parallel system is funded by the wider public. “This entire independent state is financed by the residents of the neighboring state, meaning the rest of ‘Israel’s’ citizens, through tax money used to support draft evasion, daycare subsidies, property tax reductions, and more,” he wrote.
He directly linked the situation to the policies of current prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accusing him of relying on ultra-Orthodox parties for political survival. Bennett named the leaders of Shas and United Torah Judaism, saying this dependence has left Netanyahu “exhausted, weak, and surrendering to them at every turn.”
Bennett added that government ministers know proposed draft exemption legislation “will not enlist a single Haredi,” yet still back it to preserve the ruling coalition.
Growing influence of Haredi parties
Haredim, or ultra-Orthodox Jews, make up about 13.3 percent of the population in ‘Israel’, but wield outsized political influence. Religious parties are often pivotal in coalition negotiations needed to secure a Knesset majority.
Under Netanyahu’s current government, religious parties have returned to the center of power after being partially sidelined by the previous Bennett-Lapid coalition. A key priority for those parties remains passing legislation that formalizes broad exemptions for Haredim from mandatory military service.
The debate is expected to intensify as lawmakers revisit the draft law in the Knesset in the coming weeks.
