JEWISH WORLD

JEWISH WORLD • MARCH 19-25, 2021 9 By YOSSI KLEIN HALEVI T his election is about one overriding issue: whether Israel will remain a modern, cutting-edge society, or gradually become a failing state. Prime Minister Benjamin Netan- yahu’s proposed coalition of ultra- Orthodox parties and the far-Right Kahanists would erode democratic institutions, reinforce social frag- mentation, alienate large parts of the Diaspora and energize the anti-Zionist delegitimization cam- paign. It would be an Israel that growing numbers of young Israelis, the backbone of Start-Up Nation, would increasingly flee in despair. I am voting for Yair Lapid because he represents the most coherent vision for ensuring that Israel retains its place in the modern and democratic world — essential for our ability to survive in the Mid- dle East and to thrive in the interna- tional community. T he year of COVID has given us a terrifying glimpse into failed- state Israel. The government’s impressive success in vaccinating the public cannot obscure its other- wise abysmal record. A chaotic and almost laughably incompetent ad- ministration lost the trust of the public and failed to impose its authority, strengthening a defiant ultra-Orthodox state-within-a-state. This last year has exposed the increasingly untenable nature of the relationship between the haredi or ultra-Orthodox community and the state. That relationship begins with haredi secession, exemption from basic responsibilities of Israeli citi- zenship. Coalition machinations then compel the mainstream to sub- sidize haredi separatism. Finally, through increasing domination of the state religious apparatus, the haredi community enforces its norms on the mainstream. That pattern has played out, with terrible consequences, over the last months. Large parts of the haredi community effectively seceded from the mainstream effort to con- tain COVID, resulting in wildly dis- proportionate haredi infection and death rates. Meanwhile, haredi poli- icians prevented the government from imposing a selective Why I'm Voting For Yair Lapid He will keep Israel in the modern and democratic world continued on page 21 PERSPECTIVE Lapid leads a Yesh Atid rally. Yair Lapid understands that a Jewish state is not the same as a Jewish community. It doesn’t belong to any one part of the Jewish people.

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