Isn’t religious pluralism a luxury and shouldn’t we be working on Israel’s security needs?
Religious pluralism and freedom are not luxuries, but rather real needs of Israeli citizens, affecting them and setting their priorities no less than questions of foreign and defense policy. In the last election, hundreds of thousands of Israelis chose, at a time when they were threatened daily by suicide bombers and the outbreak of war with Iraq, to vote for a party (Shinui) that prioritizes the fight against religious coercion and the Orthodox monopoly. While Masorti often disagrees with positions taken by the Shinui Party, the general population’s concern with religious freedom is well established by their striking success at the polls.
