Religion-state frustrations spark mass Jerusalem demonstrations

JERUSALEM, Feb. 15 (JTA) — Israel’s Supreme Court has become the focal point of an increasingly heated debate about the roles of religion and state in Israel. Since its founding 50 years ago, a religious status quo defined the boundaries of religious and secular life in Israel. But tensions have increased as the haredi, or fervently Orthodox, political parties gained power in the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — and as the high court issued a series of rulings that eroded the status quo and granted more recognition to Judaism’s liberal streams. The friction boiled over last week, when haredi leaders declared the judiciary “enemies” of the Jewish people. This in turn spawned an outcry by political leaders, who described the attack on the court and its justices as an attempt to undermine the foundations of Israeli democracy. The debate was taken to the streets of Jerusalem on Sunday, when hundreds of thousands of people converged for demonstrations to voice their support or opposition to the court’s rulings. Haredi leaders called for a demonstration after the high court recently issued an order to allow Conservative and Reform representatives to serve on local religious councils. That ruling prompted a number of haredi leaders to issue decrees that any high court ruling that runs counter to Orthodox religious law be ignored. The haredi leaders also were stung by a court ruling that canceled a decades-old arrangement under which yeshiva students are entitled to army draft exemptions and a separate decision allowing a kibbutz to maintain business operations on the Sabbath. Some 250,000 fervently Orthodox Jews heeded the calls of their rabbis to take part in a mass prayer vigil Sunday to seek an end to what organizers termed the “anti-religious” rulings of the high court. Traveling by bus, they poured into the capital, turning the western entrance of the city and the streets surrounding it into a sea of black hats and coats, the traditional garb of the fervently Orthodox. In a counter-demonstration about a mile away, some 50,000 people — including university students and youth group members — filled a public park to make their stand known. Organizers of the counter-demonstration said thousands of other university students from around the country had been unable to get to the rally because of inadequate transportation. Anticipating possible violence, police poured 2,000 reinforcements into the city to serve as a buffer between the two demonstrations. Police, soldiers and snipers were also stationed around the Supreme Court building to prevent any violent acts. But the demonstrations dispersed without incident, leaving residual traffic jams that clogged the streets of the capital through the evening rush hour. At the prayer vigil, participants read out psalms as shofars were blown. Some of the demonstrators carried signs calling on the authorities to “Bring the High Court to Trial.” After the prayer vigil was held, one of the organizers, Rabbi Meir Porush of the fervently Orthodox Agudat Yisrael Party, warned of civil war if the high court is “not convinced to stop interfering in matters of religion and state.” Passions and frustrations were just as deeply felt — and expressed — at the counter-demonstration. “It doesn’t matter where I turn, the haredim are interfering in my life,” one demonstrator, student Hagit Barnea, told reporters. One of the speakers, Jewish Agency for Israel chairman Avraham Burg, described himself as “100 percent an Israeli and democrat and 100 percent a proud Jew.” He argued that a separation of state and religion is essential in order to maintain Israeli society as a “free market of opinions, and not one of religious coercion.” Among those who refrained from participating in either of the demonstrations were the three candidates for prime minister in the upcoming elections — Netanyahu, Labor leader Ehud Barak and centrist leader Yitzhak Mordechai. At Sunday’s weekly Cabinet meeting, Netanyahu told his ministers that “certain elements” are seeking to “inflame” religious-secular divisions, but added that the “existence of the Jewish people is conditioned upon its ability to transcend internal schisms.” Meanwhile, Israeli writers Amos Oz and A.B. Yehoshua called on the public to join the Conservative and Reform movements. This is the best way to counter fervently Orthodox attempts to turn Israel into a non-democratic state ruled by religious law, they said.