Summary
The party representing the non-Zionist Orthodox (haredi) community descended from the old yishuv, which Dowty presents in Chapter 8 as a party that recognized Israel only on a de facto basis, made practical and temporary accommodations with the Zionist state in return for guarantees and funding, and has never again accepted a ministerial post since leaving the government in 1952 (The Jewish State: A Century Later, lines 3493-3580).
Details
- Following World War I, Zionist officials sought to bring Agudat Yisrael within the new communal institutions, funding yeshivot and offering further assistance if they would teach Hebrew, which was refused. Its community boycotted Assembly of Delegates elections after April 1920 (in which non-Zionist delegates took 16 percent of the membership) and many withdrew from the registered Jewish electorate altogether. A compromise funding the old yishuv’s institutions without active cooperation was followed in 1934 by an agreement of formal cooperation with the World Zionist Organization (The Jewish State: A Century Later, lines 3493-3580).
- Before supporting Zionist goals even conditionally, Agudat Yisrael and other haredi groups sought assurance that the “Jewish” state would not publicly desecrate religious law. David Ben-Gurion gave that assurance in his letter of 19 June 1947 to its leadership, the basis of the Religious status quo (The Jewish State: A Century Later, lines 3493-3580).
- On the basis of that understanding Agudat Yisrael joined the provisional government of Israel in 1948, receiving one of thirteen cabinet seats (the Ministry of Welfare), and formed a joint electoral list with Mizrahi for the first Knesset in 1949. It continued to serve in the government until 1952, when it left over the military conscription of women, and has since never again accepted a ministerial post, even when supporting a government in the Knesset (The Jewish State: A Century Later, lines 3493-3580).
- Agudat Yisrael opposed drafting a man-made constitution for Israel, as did the religious Zionists; unlike them, its authorities also opposed celebrating Independence Day, using the Israeli flag or other national symbols, or service by their own youth in the Israeli army. In reaction to its dominant Ashkenazi character, leaders of the Sephardi-haredi constituency established Shas as a separate party in 1984 (The Jewish State: A Century Later, lines 3493-3580, lines 3581-3685).
Related pages
The Jewish State: A Century Later, Religious status quo, National Religious Party, Shas