Weekly Commentary: Is There an Exit Plan for Haredi Placators?
Dr. Aaron Lerner 19 February 2026

The justification for placating the Haredis is straightforward: we need them in the coalition.

That's what drives most Likud MKs, or for that matter, Bezalel Smotrich, leader of the Religious Zionism party and Israel’s Finance Minister, to support destructive pro-Haredi policies and programs.

They know that the proposed draft law is not going to achieve its goals.

They know that the boys attending Haredi educational institutions aren't being provided with the critical tools to ultimately make a decent living or a significant contribution to the economy.

They know how destructive it is that Haredi families can actively choose to be poor thanks to a system of grants, subsidies, and discounts.

But they are also certain that at this particular point in time it would be a disaster if the Haredis weren't in the ruling coalition.

I am not about to challenge this assessment.

I have a very different challenge for the "placate the Haredis" camp:

What's your exit plan?

What circumstances on the ground are required so that it is no longer necessary to support the destructive "placate the Haredis" policies?

What's your plan to reach those conditions?

How many years do you expect this to take, given that the cost to Israeli society of these policies is cumulative and permanent?

After all, the overwhelming majority of young men who were denied critical elements of their education will never be able to catch up as adults.

We know this from their high failure rate in educational programs for adult Haredi men.

I appreciate that the temptation is great to assume that even if we never cease to placate the Haredis, things will ultimately work out thanks to external factors such as the internet.

But it is catastrophically dangerous to bet our collective future on hope rather than on a serious action plan.

Again: this arrangement cannot last forever.

I'm not interested in the arguments of the "placate the Haredis" camp in support of the policies they back, because these arguments aren't the real reasons they themselves support these policies.

In the absence of a clear exit plan, the "placate the Haredis" camp could very well be punished at the ballot box this year.

Right now, polls show that Smotrich's party isn't even close to the support needed to get into the Knesset again.

Yes, if an exit plan is commonly known, the Haredi leadership may try to thwart it.

On the other hand, if there is a clear vision of what's required, it is conceivable that many not in the current ruling coalition will opt to cooperate in facilitating the "exit plan."

For the sake of our nation and future generations, let's set aside the fake arguments and deal with what is really on the table.
_______________________________________
IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis
Since 1992 providing news and analysis on the Middle East with a focus on Arab-Israeli relations