Religious Zionism is debating: Where will the national-religious go in the elections? | With Amichai Attali
Religious Zionism has only recently returned to passing the electoral threshold in polls, after a prolonged period in which the national-religious public did not find a political home. The public is angry at the conduct of its representatives towards the Haredi society - but it is still unclear if alternatives like Chili Tropper, Yoaz Hendel, Gilad Erdan or Yuli Edelstein will manage to erode its base. Amichai Attali explains where Bezalel Smotrich went wrong in reading the national-religious sentiment, and why this specific public may be the tie-breaker in the elections.
Listen to 'The Headline' – the daily news podcast of ynet. This time: on Religious Zionism and the upcoming election system.
'It is very easy to say that Religious Zionism does not represent the religious public in Israel, but the truth is that there is no simple answer to this question. Anyone who dismisses this matter easily is making assumptions and not examining the sector in depth. This party certainly represents classical Religious Zionism, but there are also many elements where it is moving further away from the mainstream. This is going to be one of the most interesting points in the upcoming election system,' says Amichai Attali, a ynet journalist.
'The big rift between the public and the party is the issue of the exemption from conscription. It is beyond the conscription itself, but the entire attitude towards the Haredim. It is part of the understanding that Israel's biggest challenge internally is the conduct towards the Haredi society. It seems that as far as the Haredi society is concerned, Bezalel Smotrich, who is perceived as a sharp and intelligent man who understands reality, has a blind spot. He acts as if he is completely blind to it. In addition, he is also the Minister of Finance who should understand the Haredi challenge and why it constitutes a burden on the Israeli economy. Haredi politicians have built over the years a welfare system that funds them in many areas and unstable scales have been created here where the non-Haredi Jewish population spends a lot of money per month that goes into the pocket of a Haredi family.
'If we converge in the upcoming election system into a two-bloc struggle, as Benjamin Netanyahu and Bezalel Smotrich very much want, and they manage to tie it to the Palestinian question, they will manage to recruit the public to them. If alternatives arise like Chili Tropper and Yoaz Hendel or Gilad Erdan and Yuli Edelstein, it may challenge them. Such alternatives can be the tie-breaker. We are talking about five to ten mandates. The fact that Bezalel Smotrich did nothing with the Haredim is a focus of significant criticism among the public, and this may lead large parts of the public to look for a home with the alternatives.'
If you missed it: you are invited to listen to another episode of ours, about the election system, and how Benjamin Netanyahu's campaign is expected to look.
