Charedim not above law

Editorial

There was outrage this week over a mural at a leading Thai university, which depicted superheroes Batman, Superman, Captain America, the Incredible Hulk – and Hitler.

The mural was created by students to congratulate the graduating class. University administrators insist it was ignorance, not malice, that inspired the inclusion of the Nazi leader. Jewish organizations worldwide are taking the opportunity to insist that some serious Holocaust education is needed in Thailand.

But if Jewish organizations and individuals are going to launch into full dudgeon mode over ignorant, despicable imagery, we needn’t look so far afield. About the same time, in Israel on Monday, posters appeared in religious neighborhoods of Jerusalem calling for the disemboweling of Charedi Israel Defence Forces soldiers. This comes on the heels of much harassment and at least two incidents of assault against Charedi soldiers by other Charedim. In one instance, a soldier was attacked by dozens of ultra-Orthodox men. The soldier was beaten and pelted with eggs and oil. When police came to the rescue, they were attacked with stones and called Nazis. The incident occurred in an area strongly associated with the anti-Zionist sect Neturei Karta.

Israel’s High Court last year declared the blanket exemption of ultra-Orthodox from service in the IDF to be unconstitutional and the military has begun drafting ultra-Orthodox. Throughout ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods, posters have condemned IDF recruits as “Hardakim,” an acronym meaning “weak-minded Charedim” but with a not coincidental similarity to “haydakim,” which means bacteria or microbe. This sort of language – and the cartoonish posters warning against participation in the military by showing an apparent state official chasing frightened Charedi children – have been compared with Nazi propaganda.

A Times of Israel news report quotes a young man from the neighborhood, who may sum up the Charedi point of view: “Everyone who returns from the IDF comes back a goy.”

Some ultra-Orthodox view the military as anathema to their existing way of life. For the extreme, like Neturei Karta, who do not even acknowledge the legitimacy of the state of Israel and condemn those who vote in elections, defending the state through military service would clearly be contrary to their particular worldview. These people are, like it or not, citizens of a democratic state and the legitimate authority of the state has determined that they, like everyone else, should serve. The logic, of course, does not wash with those who would rather not be citizens of the state and do not recognize its legitimate authority.

This situation spurs recollections of a pivotal moment in the creation of the state of Israel and the assertion of sole legitimacy in the democratic government. Students of history will recall the violent and heart-wrenching fraternal battle between the new IDF and the paramilitary Irgun, culminating in the destruction of the Irgun ship, the Altalena. The tragic story is central to the narrative of Israel. It was a statement of intent by the pioneering leaders of the country to brook no force outside the legitimately vested military of the government itself.

Israel now faces, in a sense, a similar threat to the legitimacy of its authority. In a democracy, a segment of the population is free to disagree or to dissent from the consensus. They are not, however, free to employ or incite violence in service of their views. The fact that the perpetrators do not accept the legitimacy of the government or its consensus positions does not except them from its rules. The actions taking place in some segments of ultra-Orthodox communities should be met with condemnation and must be confronted by the legitimate authority of the state.

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