The Haredi Extortion Machine Returns

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has almost finished putting together his new coalition government, but at a heavy price.  In order to get Haredi parties Shas and United Torah Judaism to join his new government, he's had to agree to some very expensive demands.  And who's going to pay for these demands?  Well, the hardworking Israeli taxpayer of course!  Yes, unfortunately, the Haredi extortion machine has returned after a brief hiatus where they were kept out of Netanyahu's last government.  So basically, every Israeli who works for a living and contributes to society is going to have to pay so that Haredim can continue to sit in their synagogues and study the Torah all day.  Sound familiar?  It should, because the Haredi parties have been extorting money from the gainfully employed Israeli taxpayer for decades.

So what exactly does Israel's Joe the taxpayer have to give the Haredi parties this time?  Well, how about a billion shekels to fund Haredi education institutions.  And are these institutions going to teach the three Rs or any other practical skills that will allow Haredi children to get a job in the future?  Nope, because the attitude of the Haredi parties is, "we don't need no stinkin' math!  We don't need to go out and get a job like everyone else.  We'll just sit in our synagogues and peruse the Torah all day while you suckers in the Israeli taxpaying public pay to feed and clothe us.  Oh, and did we mention, you're also going to have to pay for more child allowances so that we can continue to breed like rabbits and have more children that will sit and study the Torah all day while pigging out at the trough of the Israeli taxpayer."  A full description of what all of what you hardworking Israelis are going to have to pay the Haredi extortionists can be found here.

Unfortunately, Prime Minister Netanyahu, doesn't have much of a choice but to bring the Haredi parties on board.  Not doing so would likely mean forming a unity government with the lefties in the Zionist Union - the same lefties that basically want to hand over the core of the Biblical Jewish homeland to the Palestinians so that they can shoot rockets at us from Ramallah and Nablus instead of just Gaza.  And since Bibi is thankfully a leader that will not compromise on Israel's security, he has no choice but to bite the bullet and give the extortionists in the Haredi parties whatever they want.  It's a situation that, for lack of a better term, really sucks, but as the French say, c'est la vie.