Israeli Secularists Find Their Voice in Yair Lapid - NYTimes.com - 0 views
www.nytimes.com/...their-voice-in-yair-lapid.html
israeli nytimes economics politics history culture policy us women yair lapid secularism
shared by julia rhodes on 31 Jan 13
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Now, Mr. Lapid’s stunning success
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is being viewed by many voters, activists and analysts here as a victory for the secular mainstream in the intensifying identity battle gripping the country.
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the widespread draft exemptions for the ultra-Orthodox, integrating them into the work force, and shifting the balance of who pays taxes and who receives government aid.
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“People say, ‘Wait a minute, I don’t see myself as part of a society where women cannot sit in the front of the bus.’ People don’t want to be part of such an extreme society.”
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“The underlying issue is that there’s an ideological contest over the soul of the state of Israel and the Jewish people.”
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47 percent identified the religious-secular divide as the most acute in society, more than twice as high as the next ranked choice of politics, at 19 percent, followed by rich and poor, at 15 percent.
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And in late 2011, an international uproar was set off when a group of Haredi men spit at an 8-year-old Modern Orthodox girl on her way to school, calling her a prostitute because her clothing was seen as not modest enough.
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Beyond the draft, Mr. Lapid’s party platform said it would “work to promote” civil marriage, including for same-sex couples, and “rectify inequality in family laws.” On his Facebook page, Mr. Lapid wrote that “as far as women’s exclusion is concerned there can be no compromise or negotiation.”