There are a minority of haredim who actually support the idea of Israel as a Jewish state. There are even a handful who would wish to serve in the IDF were it not for catastrophic social and familial consequence for their doing so.

However, the overwhelming haredi majority, and their leaders especially, are uncompromisingly hostile to the very notion of Zionism. They detest the State, have zero kinship to the general population, and feel justified in deploying every political trick and individual chicanery to dislodge maximum benefits and billions in outright handouts from the Zionist taxpayer.

Recently, in a rare moment of honest contempt, the senior sage of the Lithuanian haredim, Rabbi Dov Lando, expressed his preference for an Arab government. He is hardly alone.

The haredi political parties exist for only one reason, to sell their rubber stamp, for policies that are irrelevant to them, in exchange for billions of shekels in cold coin, and in order to insulate their young men from having to share any responsibility for the safety and security of the country.

Their argument that military exemption is justified because their minions are engaged in Torah study is simply untrue. The percentage of haredi men who possess the mental acuity and stamina needed to attain........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)