Rabbi David Stav: 'We abandoned Judaism'

Rabbi David Stav, chairman of the Tzohar Rabbinical Organization, has criticized what he described as the Religious Zionist movement’s priorities over the years, arguing that its focus on settlement in Judea and Samaria came at the expense of influence over issues concerning Israel’s Jewish identity and religious institutions. In an interview on the “Mabat Gadol" podcast on the Tzohar-affiliated Mashav channel, Stav said that successive right-wing and left-wing governments had handed responsibility for Jewish affairs to the haredi parties. “Unfortunately, the cheapest thing for prime ministers on both the right and the left was to sell off the country’s Judaism and hand it over - or, more accurately, abandon it - to the haredi parties," he said. He added that responsibility for the situation lay not only with the political system but also with the public itself. “Unfortunately, we in the Religious Zionist community also abandoned these areas. In return, we successfully secured settlement in Judea and Samaria, which is an impressive and tremendous achievement," he said. However, Stav argued that this achievement came at a price. “Almost all religious institutions in the State of Israel are in haredi hands, and the attitude toward Judaism naturally reflects that," he said. He warned that disputes over Israel’s Jewish identity could undermine the common ground shared by different parts of society. “There is no value in holding on to Judea and Samaria if half the country is not with you," he added. Stav also criticized the use of the terms “religious camp" and “non-religious camp" to describe Israel’s political blocs. Political affiliation, he argued, cannot serve as a measure of a person’s faith or religious observance. “Expressions such as ‘religious camp’ and ‘non-religious camp’ are nonsense," he said. “I don’t need to tell you that some of the leaders of the so-called religious camp are people who eat forbidden foods. By contrast, some leaders of the camp labeled ‘non-religious’ observe the Torah and its commandments and put on tefillin every day. Heaven forbid that we define groups as religious or non-religious. There is no such thing." The Tzohar chairman also discussed the limits of political majorities in a democracy, citing what he called the “deserters law." A law under which “haredi deserters are not sent to prison, but secular deserters are," he said, “contradicts the fundamental principles of democracy, regardless of how large a majority supports it."