Far-right coalition in Israel sparks furor over education and values
A new, far-right government led by Benjamin Netanyahu has yet to officially take office, but already a public revolt is brewing.
It’s not against the coalition’s looming plans to seize more West Bank land or to undermine the independence of Israel’s judiciary, but rather the handover to religious extremists of key facets of the country’s education system.
Indeed, among the numerous flash-points this new government – expected to be sworn in next week – may exacerbate are fundamental questions surrounding Jewish values and civic identity in Israel, which was founded both as a liberal democracy and as a homeland for Jews.
Alluding to this month’s Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, termed the Festival of Lights, Israel’s largest parent association wrote as a protest rallying cry in early December: “We’ve come to expel darkness.”
In quick succession, hundreds of schools and dozens of
