Interviewed: Haaretz on what we can expect from the new Israeli government re: religion / state
In this Haaretz piece by Judy Maltz, I explain that due to there being a right-religious party together with the left-secular parties and an Arab-Islamist party in the government, we should expect little in regards to matters of religion and state. That is, the secular left's agenda regarding marriage freedom, conversion, transportation on Shabbat or LGBTQ rights, and the right's conservative positions on these, are expected to be left to the side. Moreover, it seems that incoming prime minister Bennet would like to leave the door open for the Haredi parties to join eventually, making advancing such issues even more difficult.
Where might we see some changes? The new government could very realistically adopt a more conciliatory tone towards Diaspora Jewry, especially if the far religious right and Haredi parties are not included in the government.
