Amid chaos at Ben Gurion Airport caused by train disruptions during an ultra-Orthodox protest, the article argues that the legal right to demonstrate is not the issue. It says every citizen in a democracy may protest, whether or not they serve in the army, work, or pay much tax, and that the real question is moral legitimacy.
The writer contrasts three protest camps from the past 20 years: opponents of the 2005 Gaza disengagement, opponents of the 2023 judicial overhaul, and today’s ultra-Orthodox demonstrators. The first two groups, the article says, are largely made up of people who serve in the IDF, including reservists and former combat troops, and who also participate in the workforce. It adds that many of them blocked roads while still contributing to the state through military service and work.
By contrast, the article says about half of ultra-Orthodox men do not work, while ultra-Orthodox women have a very high employment rate, close to 90%. It says the combination of low work participation, heavy reliance on state allowances, and extremely low enlistment, described as only a few percent and under 10%, means the working public cannot keep carrying this population financially. The article also notes that many ultra-Orthodox workers are employed in state-funded jobs aimed at the sector.
The piece says the current protest is especially troubling because it is being organized by Agudat Yisrael, a key part of United Torah Judaism, whose institutions receive generous state funding. It mentions that the party’s leaders reject the IDF in principle and do not value work or taxes in practice, yet still demand billions in special budgets from the state. The writer ends by saying that while road blockades by settlers or secular anti-government protesters may be wrong, they still come from people who serve and work, unlike ultra-Orthodox draft evaders, whose disruption has no moral justification.
