POL345Y1 Lecture Notes - Yesh Atid, National Religious Party, Religious Zionism
Document Summary
Election results of parties 2009 vs. 2013. (about 70,000 votes currently gets you two seats) Ultra orthodox (uo) vs. arabs i. e. both exempt from military but uo participate in gov"t. 60, 000 ultra orthodox youth in the age bracket of military service; not all are students in religious seminaries although most register in them. Uo: exemption from military service is not the only issue; also state subsidies. Uo have their own independent education system which emphasizes religious studies but not necessarily skills needed to be a part of the labour market ex. Contribute less taxes to state but get more subsidies + uo families are relatively large with many children and the state offers allowance per child. => yesh atid party: israeli middle class, which does military service, contributes resources to state through taxation, is essentially subsidizing the uo in a way that is neither fair nor sustainable.
