Beyond the grave social consequences, the nationwide emotional distance from both groups has political implications.<\/p>\n
Each is represented by sectoral parties that many other political actors effectively blacklist: so long as haredi parties defend broad exemption from military service, they are unacceptable partners for a centrist government; so long as Arab parties are not Zionist, they are consigned to the opposition in almost any conceivable coalition.<\/p>\n
The stark result is that broad swaths of the public deem roughly one-third of Israel\u2019s citizens illegitimate partners in a future government.<\/p>\n
(Illustrative) A man casts his ballot at a voting station on the morning of the municipal elections, in Ashdod, February 27, 2024 (credit: Liron Moldovan\/Flash90)<\/p>\n
This reality is not inevitable. The coming election campaign may offer an opportunity for some social repair through daring moves that cross sectoral lines.<\/p>\n
One emerging development suggests what may be possible: if Mansour Abbas<\/a> and Yoav Segalovitz can agree on the latter leaving Yesh Atid and joining Ra\u2019am, it would begin to challenge the current threatening image of the \u201cArab parties\u201d as disloyal to the state and therefore untrustworthy.\u00a0<\/p>\n If Segalovitz, who is known for his commitment to fighting violent crime, were then appointed national security minister after being elected on a civic platform supported mainly by Arab voters, everyone would stand to gain. The message would be even more powerful if he served in a broad government that also included right-wing parties.<\/p>\n Many ultra-Orthodox Jews deeply dissatisfied with haredi leadership<\/p>\n A similar development could take shape in haredi society. Despite the community\u2019s celebrated unity behind its \u201cgreat Torah sages,\u201d many haredim are deeply dissatisfied with its current predicament.<\/p>\n Their leadership\u2019s unrestrained rhetoric, its scandalous refusal to shoulder its fair share of the national defense burden, its resistance to employment and educational reform, and the poverty and isolation these policies perpetuate, do not reflect the free choice of thousands of haredim.<\/p>\n Their numbers are difficult to estimate, but it is hardly far-fetched to say that they represent at least two Knesset seats worth of haredi voters.<\/p>\n