Will you vote tomorrow to prevent Israel’s upcoming existential crisis? by Rabbi Yehudah Oppenheimer candidate for @HatziburCharedi in TOI “Tomorrow Israelis go to the polls. Most of the recent discussions have been about the familiar questions: Who will be prime minister? Will Likud or Yashar finish first? What will happen with Iran? Those questions matter. a threat to this country that I believe is greater than Iran and deeper than the old split between right and left. We must face this question: what will happen as the Haredi community grows, while becoming more separate from the rest of Israeli society? Close to a third of Jewish children entering first grade are enrolled in Haredi schools. Many of them are growing up with an ethos that becomes more extreme every year, the same ethos that has brought young Haredi men into the streets shouting that they would rather die than enlist, which is a blight on all of us, and an insult to those who served for hundreds of days serving in the army, and where their families have carried the burden with them. Those first graders will be eighteen in twelve years. If nothing changes, a third of this country’s Jewish youth could be in those same streets, saying those same words. Add to that number the percentage of Arab and other citizens who don’t serve, and we will be looking at an untenable situation in which the military is receiving less than 40% of the potential manpower. The workforce of the country will be likewise diminished, as the majority of Charedi students are not receiving core curriculum subjects and will not be able to gain meaningful employment to keep Israel’s current economic achievements going. The dissonance between the Charedi population and the rest of Israeli society will continue to grow into a schism so vast it will be irreparable. I am a Charedi Jew. I believe change has to come from within our community. Attempts to impose it from outside have not worked. Financial penalties have not solved the problem, and neither have incentives on their own. We have to start with education, and we cannot keep putting it off. Parents who want their children to learn basic math and English should have that choice. Young people who are not learning full-time should have a way to serve the country in a framework that respects their Chareidi way of life. Those who are learning full-time should be able to continue. We need to build these frameworks together, with the Chareidi community and the government working in partnership. 1/

To add to this: imagine if our response to 9/11 was just hitting Al Qaeda with some air strikes, hoping it would deter terrorism rather than going after EVERY enemy in the M.E. We haven't been hit with a 9/11-scale terror attack in 25 years precisely because of our response.

BREAKING: Netanyahu says Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has now decided to lift the restriction on nuclear weapons and is trying to develop them again. He says based on this, he has now instructed the IDF, Mossad and security agencies to topple the Iranian regime. "Mojtaba Khamenei decided to follow in his father's footsteps. He has taken the safety off, and Iran is once again trying to develop its weapons of death," Netanyahu said minutes ago. "There is only one way to remove this threat once and for all, to topple the regime in Iran," he adds. "We are ready to strike you with full force," Defence Minister Katz says. Iranian lawmakers said on Sunday that Mojtaba Khamenei's position on nuclear weapons will differ from his late father's and that Iran must now acquire nuclear weapons.