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Israel
Religious Parties
Israel's religious parties were originally organized not to seize
the reins of power, but rather to engage in what American scholar
Norman L. Zucker has called "theopolitics"--to gain theological
ends by means of political activity. From the Orthodox viewpoint,
Israel remained an imperfect state as long as secular rather than
religiously observant Jews constituted a majority. As of 1988,
policy issues concerning religious parties included the question
of "Who is a Jew," maintaining Orthodox rabbinical control over
marriage and divorce, increasing sabbath observance, observing
kosher dietary regulations, maintaining and expanding the state
religious education systems, ensuring the exemption of religious
women and ultra-Orthodox men from military service, and such social
issues as abortion.
Despite the minority position of adherents of Orthodox Judaism,
several factors have enabled this religious bloc to maintain a
central role in the state. Such factors have included the links
between Judaism and Israeli nationalism; the political and organizational
power of the religious parties--particularly the NRP and later
Agudat Israel and Shas--in assuming a pivotal role in the formation
and maintenance of coalition governments; and the inability of
the Reform and Conservative Jewish religious movements, although
powerful in the Jewish Diaspora, to penetrate effectively Israel's
religious administrative apparatus. This apparatus consisted particularly
of the Ministry of Religious Affairs, the Chief Rabbinate, the
Chief Rabbinical Council, and local religious councils. The Reform
and Conservative movements played a minor role in Zionism during
the prestate period and thus allowed the Orthodox to dominate
religious activities in the new state. Among the Orthodox there
were varying forms of religious observance in accordance with
halakah. The main division was between the ultra-Orthodox, who
rejected Zionism and were associated with Agudat Israel and Shas,
and the modern Orthodox, who attempted to reconcile Zionism and
religious orthodoxy and were associated with the NRP.
Taken together, Israel's religious parties have over the years
generally commanded from fifteen to eighteen seats in the Knesset,
or about 12 to 15 percent of the Knesset. On occasion they have
formed religious coalitions of their own, such as the United Religious
Front (see Appendix B) and the Torah Religious Front (see Appendix
B). The voter strength of the religious parties, particularly
the NRP, made them ideal coalition partners for the two major
blocs. Because neither bloc has ever been able to achieve a majority
in the Knesset, the potentially pivotal position of the religious
parties has given them disproportionate political power. One of
the greatest shocks of the 1988 Knesset elections was the surprising
increase in strength of the Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox parties,
which went from thirteen to eighteen Knesset seats.
Data as of December 1988
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