Crossing the Rubicon

Yedidia Stern, president of JPPI, calls for crossing sectoral lines: bringing a Jew into Ra'am and integrating Haredim into general parties, to reduce alienation and strengthen shared citizenship. He cites the closeness index showing Arabs and Haredim are the least liked groups, and notes initiatives like 'Torah Brotherhood' and 'The Haredi Public' as signs of change.

Yedidia Stern, president of the Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI), calls for crossing sectoral lines in Israeli politics. He notes that JPPI's closeness index shows Arabs and Haredim are the least liked groups in Israel, and that their representation through sectoral parties leads to their de facto ostracism. He suggests that the addition of Yoav Segalovich to Ra'am would crack the image of the 'separatist Arab party', and that Haredim interested in work and enlistment, like those organized around Rabbi David Leib and the 'Torah Brotherhood' network, could join general parties. He mentions a new initiative called 'The Haredi Public' that might want to join an existing party. Stern argues that these changes, though small, are important for creating a crack in the automatic labeling of 'others' and strengthening the Israeli common denominator.

Crossing the Rubicon