Form of antisemitism

The article “Haredim and pensions” by Rivka Neriya Ben-Shahar, Efrat Dressler and Edna Harel-Fisher (May 31) enlightened me to the predicament of the haredi on quasi-rational materialistic grounds. They are maligned to the point of prejudice as has been the case for the last 200 years. As Bibi said, “we are all one and the same country.”

I realized that as an oleh, I am a social pariah classifiable in the same category. I worked all my life in Australia, and here I am, now a citizen of Israel and having had a stroke recently, I have received expensive hospital treatment, muscular and post-stroke care (including hearing aids). This could be worth NIS40,000 and, yet, like many among the haredim, I have not contributed to the army or the workforce.

The writers accuse the haredim of being social parasites. Yet, I am guilty of exactly the same thing. The negative views toward the haredim, expressed by this article, promote a secular Israeli form of antisemitism.

I believe the problem can be mitigated because Prime Minister Netanyahu arranged for billions of shekels to come out of municipal funds to set up a core curriculum teaching math, English and science. This will make the haredi employable in the secular community. Surely, this will create a rapprochement in the working environment.

It seems that such funding of the core curriculum will ensure that more haredi work, and in 60 years time, haredi men and women will have sufficient savings and will need less government support, as is the case with their secular counterparts who, thanks to the same education, obtain jobs.

Hopefully, there will be more tolerance down the track than is indicated in this article. I am a “bludger” as well, but there are no articles criticizing me.