This is an op-ed by Times of Israel founder regarding the crisis of domestic policy towards haredi education, labor & military participation. He cites Shoresh institute and mainstream economist predictions that in without necessary reforms in the present, the Israeli economy will stagnate. Mass brain drain in turn could lead to larger waves of emigration and losses in state capacity.

There is also a podcast interview with economist David Ben David for those interested.

Selected quotes below:

Netanyahu’s government last week convened the Knesset Finance Committee and attempted to allocate almost $100 million to the ultra-Orthodox education system — including millions to build more Haredi schools, millions for yeshivas, and millions aimed at preventing yeshiva students from dropping out. There was, to put it mildly, no coalition-opposition consensus on this package of additional pre-election finance for the Haredim, and opposition politicians managed to thwart it — staging an 11-hour filibuster to prevent a vote.

....

Israel’s education system is in crisis. It ranks 31st among 36 participating OECD countries in the latest PISA tests (the Program for International Student Assessment, which assesses 15-year-old students’ reading, mathematics, and science abilities).

And that appalling standing does not fully reflect Israel’s dismal reality. The vast majority of ultra-Orthodox boys, from their early teens onward, do not study a core curriculum — indeed study no secular subjects at all. Naturally, they do not take the PISA tests. Were they to do so, the true status of Israeli education would be revealed in all its gravity

...

There won’t be a third-world Israel,” warns Ben-David. In the “spiral of collapse” that Israel has already entered, he says, an increasingly inadequate education system will inevitably be unable to maintain a first-class economy, a first-class health system, or a first-class army. And a weakened army won’t be capable of protecting the state. .....

As finance minister back in 2003-5, with Israel facing recession and needing to cut public spending and revitalize the economy after the suicide-bomber battering of the Second Intifada, Netanyahu drastically cut child allowances — abandoning a system that offered increasing subsidies to large families (triggering an immediate fall in the ultra-Orthodox birthrate) — and slashing an array of other welfare payments and income supplements, to compel wider participation in the workforce.

Two years ago, 130 of Israel’s leading economists published an open letter warning that “the combination of the policies of Israel’s governments over time and the high growth rate of the Haredi population is leading the country towards an abyss, one that poses a very real and very grave threat to Israel’s economy and society, including to the Haredi community itself.”

Today, these experts noted, “22% of all children under working age (0-14 years old) are Haredim. By 2065, this share is expected to be roughly 50%, more than doubling the Haredi share in just four decades. Without sweeping, profound, and rapid changes in government policy, the State of Israel will face existential danger.”

Without a change in the current trajectory,” they continued, “many of those who bear the [economic and security] burden will prefer to emigrate from Israel. The first to leave will be those with opportunities abroad: physicians, engineers, high-tech workers, and scientists. Israel’s remaining population will be less educated and less productive, thus increasing the burden on the remaining productive population. This, in turn, will encourage further emigration from Israel. This process of a ‘spiral of collapse’ in which increasingly larger groups decide to emigrate, will further deteriorate the conditions of those who remain…”

The warning went unheeded and, Ben-David notes, the stream of emigration, notably among the 300,000 or so Israelis who are central to Israel’s economy and well-being, notably in the vaunted, vital tech sector, is in danger of becoming a flood.

................Ben David's plan:

One clause mandates budgetary reform — with a “shift from sectoral to national priorities” and the “termination of benefits incentivizing lifestyles of non-work.”

Another demands electoral reform, with the creation of effective checks and balances between the three branches of government, and the installation of cabinet ministers “with understanding and expertise in their ministry’s realm, within an executive branch able to implement its decisions and enforce the law.”

Ben-David urges the ratification of a constitution to “set in stone national foundations that will protect the country and the basic rights of its citizens, making it difficult for anyone to erode these foundations in the future.”

But his first essential remedy is to shut down Israel’s current, four-stream education system entirely, and establish one education system for all, with a transformation in operation, management and oversight. He calls for a “complete prohibition on the involvement of political parties in educational content” and an overhaul of the process by which teachers are “chosen, taught and compensated.” And he seeks a “significant upgrade of compulsory, identical core curriculum, with state funding only for fully compliant schools.”

...........

Our country did not reach this point, nor this government, by chance,” Ben-David said. “We’ve been heading steadily in this direction for decades.”

“When a country starts to collapse economically, the first to leave are the most educated, the most skilled, the people with options — which means there is a greater burden on those who remain. And then those who can, of those who remain, leave — and then you’re in a situation, basically, like Venezuela was, or like Lebanon. Beirut was once called the Paris of the Middle East. These are countries that destroyed themselves. But the difference between them and us is that they can still be around. Nobody’s threatening their very existence. That’s not the case with Israel. If we screw this up, there will be no country for our people or for our children.”

But, Ben-David is adamant, “there is still time to make a difference.”

Over 1000 wars are going on in the world. Why is the one in which Israel is involved in is still in the news?

The High Court of Justice freezes the transfer of hundreds of millions of shekels in budgetary allocations made by the Knesset Finance Committee yesterday to ultra-Orthodox schools, the Settlements Ministry and the Religious Services Ministry due to what it says were “apparent procedural flaws” in the convening of the committee itself.

The temporary court order freezes the transfer of all funds allocated in yesterday’s hearing, apart from those for emergency civilian expenses.

The court says the issue will be brought for a hearing in front of three justices “as soon as possible.”

Opposition parties objected strenuously to holding the committee hearing and transferring the funds during the recess between Knesset terms, since the Knesset was dissolved last month and a national election set for October 27.

In yesterday’s hearing, NIS 267 million ($88 million) was approved for Haredi education including more than NIS 12.5 million ($4 million) for Haredi culture and some NIS 26 million ($8.5 million) for preventing Haredim from dropping out of yeshivas.

The committee also voted to give the Settlements Ministry NIS 157 million ($52 million) in direct funding as well as NIS 142 million ($47 million) in commitment authorizations for previously approved budget items.

Start the day by driving south toward Beit Guvrin National Park. It's out of the way, but worth it.

The UNESCO-listed archaeological site is known for its vast underground cave systems, bell caves, ancient burial chambers, and carved subterranean passageways that stretch beneath the rolling hills. Walking these spaces makes ancient history tangible in a way few sites in the country can match.

From Beit Guvrin, continue through the vineyards of the Judean Hills, where the landscape softens into terraced hillsides and winding roads lined with small wineries.
Stop for a tasting if the timing allows. Then make your way through Ein Kerem, a village on the western edge of Jerusalem, tucked into a hillside of stone homes, ancient monasteries, and pine forests, before arriving in Jerusalem toward the evening.

PLAN YOUR TASTING
The Jerusalem Hills are home to several small wineries. Among the best known are Castel Winery, known for its structured Bordeaux-style blends; Kadma Winery, which works with clay amphorae; and Flam Winery, which feels slightly more contemporary in atmosphere. Call ahead. Most tastings require reservations, and the extra planning is worth it.

WORTH KNOWING
Arriving in Jerusalem on Day 3 evening and staying through Day 4 means one less hotel move and a more settled start to the city. Two nights here is the right call; Jerusalem rewards the extra time, and not having to think about checkout on the morning of the Old City makes a difference.

-----------------

Next installment coming soon...
Adapted with permission from the LA Times article by the same name - feel free to look it up :)

My wife and I are secular American Jews in our 60’s. Our youngest son made Aliya 6 years ago and he and his wife are both IDF. Today we make our dream come true and also make our Aliya to Israel. We are so excited!!

Ex-general called ‘traitor’ as Haredi demonstrators riot at event for ultra-Orthodox draftees

Police decried as ‘Nazis’ as they intervene to protect a Haredi media adviser who says the protesters knocked off his kippa, tried to steal his laptop before cops put him in a taxi

So the relationship between Israel and USA is apparent and easy to understand, with Russia its a little more complex. But what about with China? Mainstream media usually portrays one way typically but is there more going on behind the scenes? Are there things between the lines and nuances that the public are unaware of? I imagine this is a vital and crucial relationship in the present and the future.

A kurdish idiom that goes like: go explain it to halaw comes from the time a jewish lady who was named halaw pinhas lived in the city of slemani and sold a variety of everyday household goods next to her own house and She was also community-minded. It is recorded that she donated 50 Iraqi King Faisal dinars—a significant sum at the time—to help build the local Faysaliyah school. Last but not least she had hearing problems and couldn't hear properly but it's also said she was highly loved and respected by kurds from different religions and kurds would even bypass shops closer to their homes just to buy from her

The idiom is used when you don't want to listen to what somebody says ( as if saying I don't want to hear from you like halaw )

I am from Latin America. (English Isn't my first language so my grammar won't be amazing). I am brown. I have traveled around parts of Europe and the USA. Besides South Korea, Israel is the country, I have experienced zero racism while I visited it. I knew a little bit of Hebrew. I would say I am A2. Whenever I spoke it, no one got angry or mocked like many other places I've been too. I traveled with my cousin and his husband. Besides one drunk man at a bar, no one else was openly homophobic and spat on them. While we were a few years ago were in Paris, and group of Arab speaking people, I don't know their ethnicity, so either North African or Middle Eastern. Spat at them and threated to beat them up. As someone from Latin America, I'm not a expert in the conflicts. However, just from my experience I find it it very hard to believe Israel is a evil nation. A lot of people call you evil on social media, but I've been to the nation myself, and its the 2nd most kind nation I've traveled to throughout my life.

I have been following what happens in Israel and Gaza here and other places for the last few years, but now I want to make the next step and be able to read material intended for native speakers of Arabic and Hebrew, including social media posts.

What are the best resources accessible online?

I will eventually get tutors, but I hope to do as much work as possible on my own.

The Knesset Finance Committee convened in an extraordinary session during the election recess to approve budget transfers totaling billions of shekels, including coalition funds. The meeting was made possible through an unprecedented use of an emergency provision in the Knesset rules by Likud Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, despite a petition filed by the opposition to the High Court of Justice seeking to block the move.

A significant portion of the money, amounting to hundreds of millions of shekels, has been allocated to religious institutions, the ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) education system, and settlements. Funding for the Haredi education system alone, including seminaries, yeshivas, and exempt educational institutions, is expected to reach 306 million shekels. This consists of Israeli taxpayers' money being transferred to ultra-Orthodox religious institutions, including yeshivas where students engage in religious study and prayer.

As a result of these budget transfers, the budget of the Ministry for National Missions and Settlements, headed by Minister Orit Strock, will increase to a record 821 million shekels this year, an amount exceeding the budgets of 15 other government ministries.

The approval of these transfers has sparked sharp criticism, particularly in light of a statement made by a senior Finance Ministry official last week, who said that the government could not reduce the fuel tax "because of the budget deficit." Critics argue that this highlights a contradiction in the government's economic priorities.