“We Don’t Believe in Equality”: Haredi Public’s Nechumi Yaffe on Israel Electioncast

Support the podcast and join a subscriber-only Q&A webinar:👉 [Subscribe on Patreon for $10/month] Should Torah study exempt Haredi men from the IDF, and why should secular women serve while Haredi women do not? Dr. Nechumi Yaffe of Haredi Public joins Eylon Levy for a tense episode of the Israel Electioncast. She chose education, the military draft and beating poverty; Eylon chose religion and state.Yaffe backs reducing state funding for Haredi schools that teach only religious subjects, while expanding state Haredi schools. But on the draft, sharp disagreements emerge. She defends exemptions for serious Torah scholars and Haredi-only units for those who serve, while placing Haredi women’s enlistment outside the party’s agenda. Eylon challenges her on why secular women must serve while Haredi women do not, prompting a heated exchange over equality and who should bear the burden. They also clash over welfare and public-transport subsidies, as Yaffe argues that education, training and employment offer a route out of poverty. On religion and state, she says the party has not developed a policy and does not want to be coercive. The Israel Electioncast takes English-speaking Israelis and international viewers inside the arguments shaping Israel’s future ahead of the critical 27 October elections. The Israel Electioncast is for English-speaking Israelis and international viewers who want to understand what Israelis are really arguing about before the critical 27 October elections. Haredi Public Policy Plans Explore the series Join my subscriber-only webinar on 26 October