In Israel fourteen different faiths -- Judaism, Islam, Druze, Bahai, and ten Christian denominations -- are recognized and to some extent supported by the state. Religious freedom is guaranteed in principle and supported by courts. Is Israel therefore a model of religious pluralism?
With all due respect, this is a parochial US perspective. The issue is not coalition politics, but grass roots religiosity and Jewish history. The Reform and Conservative movements are US phenomena. How many Israelis follow Reform of Conservative ideology? 99% of Israeli Jews regard Orthodox Judaism as authentic historical Judaism. They willingly follow life cycle rituals, from male genital mutilation, to weddings and burials. In Israel today, you can have a secular burial, but it is desired by older individuals, and symbolizes the marginality of secularism. Younger people in Israel and usually more religious than their parents or grandparents. So-called secular schools teach the Hebrew Bible as history, starting with the creation, going on the Binding of Isaac, and Rahab, the harlot of Jericho. The support for the Orthodox position is not because of any coalition, but because the Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox represent historical Jewish identity. "Secular" Israelis still check every celebrity to ascertain whether his\her\its mother was truly Jewish. Thus, in discussions of literary celebrities, JD Salinger is out (gentile mother), but Marcel Proust is in, regardless of his own feelings.
Perspective 62. Religious Pluralism in Israel: For Jews As Well?
With all due respect, this is a parochial US perspective. The issue is not coalition politics, but grass roots religiosity and Jewish history. The Reform and Conservative movements are US phenomena. How many Israelis follow Reform of Conservative ideology? 99% of Israeli Jews regard Orthodox Judaism as authentic historical Judaism. They willingly follow life cycle rituals, from male genital mutilation, to weddings and burials. In Israel today, you can have a secular burial, but it is desired by older individuals, and symbolizes the marginality of secularism. Younger people in Israel and usually more religious than their parents or grandparents. So-called secular schools teach the Hebrew Bible as history, starting with the creation, going on the Binding of Isaac, and Rahab, the harlot of Jericho. The support for the Orthodox position is not because of any coalition, but because the Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox represent historical Jewish identity. "Secular" Israelis still check every celebrity to ascertain whether his\her\its mother was truly Jewish. Thus, in discussions of literary celebrities, JD Salinger is out (gentile mother), but Marcel Proust is in, regardless of his own feelings.
כן, יהיה רצון
The real test is freedom for atheists.