Ehud Barak’s effort to bring pluralism to the Jewish state is happening with too much haste.
For years, this newspaper and the community it serves have called for equal rights in Israel for Reform and Conservative Jews. For too long, Israel has been dominated by a minority Orthodox establishment that forces its rules on all Israeli Jews, most of them secular.
But in trying to reverse the practice, Israel’s prime minister is governing by fiat rather than consensus. He should be consulting with the Likud Party, which undoubtedly will be better off in years to come if it doesn’t have to rely on the Orthodox parties to form a government.
Moreover, instead of attempting to win accommodations with the religious parties, Barak is mowing it over.
Polls show that two-thirds of Israelis support Barak’s efforts, although many suspect his actions are rooted in politics.
They say Barak wants revenge on the political parties who quit his government.
And they say he is doing that to court the secular public should his government crumble, as expected.
Under Barak’s plan, Israeli ID cards would no longer say “Jew” or “Arab,” “Russian” or “American.”
That would help American converts who moved to Israel and weren’t eligible to have the word “Jew” on their ID cards because their conversions weren’t recognized by Israel’s Orthodox establishment.
But the next government could easily change Barak’s proposal.
Barak also plans to increase public transportation on Shabbat and holidays, allowing El Al to fly then as well.
Once again, a new government could reverse such actions.
He also wants to permit civil marriage, and to work toward a written constitution, which would eliminate Orthodox governance. He already won cabinet approval for disassembling the Orthodox-controlled Religious Affairs Ministry.
But that, too, could be reversed.
Moves toward pluralism must be made wisely so that a future government won’t be beholden to Orthodox parties and forced to reverse Barak’s moves.
Barak must slow down and build consensus within the Knesset.
More importantly, he must assure all Jews that despite moves toward a more secular society, Israel will remain a Jewish state.