BLOOMBERG
Court Forces Israel to Face Its Ultra-Orthodox Problem
by Daniel Gordis
September 14, 2017

When Israel’s Supreme Court ruled this week that a law exempting ultra-Orthodox young men from military service is unconstitutional, it did more than pose yet another political challenge for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who desperately needs the ultra-Orthodox parties to maintain his coalition. The court also reminded Israelis that the long-festering issue of how to integrate this religious community is more than a matter of public policy — it cuts to the very question of what sort of country the Jewish State should be. At the heart of Israel’s creation was a belief that, to survive in the modern world, its citizens needed to create a “new Jew.” READ MORE