The Dogs of Religious War

Make-or-break elections for religious status quo

In ordinary times, a sparsely attended Friday town hall meeting in Beit Shemesh would not be an obvious place to glean cutting-edge political insight ahead of Israel’s elections.

But times are far from ordinary. In two weeks, Israel’s 5.8 million voters will go to the polls (for the second time this year), and a mere 125,000 people may decide the next government — and with it, Israel’s Jewish future.

That’s because the polls consistently give Avigdor Lieberman ten seats — five more than he got in the last round. According to leading Israeli pollster Mano Geva, those seats are taken equally from the center-left Blue and White party and Bibi’s Likud. With the two tied at around 31 seats apiece, Lieberman is the kingmaker. In other words, the crucial swing vote is centered on Lieberman’s manifesto.

His scorched-earth antireligious rhetoric has put issues of religion and state at the heart of this election. Up for grabs are whether kashrus and conversions will become a free-for-all, whether halachic marriage will retain legal primacy, and of course, the future of funding for Israel’s yeshivos. So, for taking the pre-election pulse, Beit Shemesh is a good place to be. Unfairly, this fast-growing city, home to thousands of Anglos (and to Knesset Channel for the past year), is known across Israel mostly as a flashpoint for secular-religious relations. But as the heated rhetoric from politicians and protesters showed, this city is a bellwether for the current elections.