Israel is in the midst of an unprecedented social change that, unlike in the past, stems from internal developments rather than from a wave of immigration. A different, multicultural society is developing here – a trinational state of secular Jews, Haredim and Arabs, with a small minority of religious Zionists.
Today, developing a broad national ethos that would include Arabs and Haredim seems like mission impossible. It is obvious that a rightist government headed by Netanyahu and Avigdor Lieberman is not built for this…The solutions that politicians and columnists propose for this social challenge have generally focused on repressing the minorities: If we strip the Arabs of their citizenship and the Haredim of their welfare payments and remove them from decision making, we will preserve the economic and status supremacy of the secular core and its affiliates. This is unacceptable ethically, but it is also impractical if we consider the numbers.Economic pressures, which are forcing Haredim to look for work and Jewish employers to take on Arabs, are fueling a slow change in the employment scene, and government programs like national civilian service or special army tracks for Haredim are helping to break down the walls. But it is not enough. We need a revolution in how the shrinking majority views minorities.
We must recognize that our future depends on integrating Arabs and Haredim into mainstream society. Instead of considering them freeloaders who want to eat our cake, we must start viewing them as a great opportunity: If Israel has managed to reach its current standard of living without them, one can only imagine where we could go with the added talent and motivation that is not currently being tapped.
