Abolish the Rabbanut (Israeli government)

The idea of the Rabbanut (meaning the government agency) was to keep the Hareidim in line, since if Jews followed traditional system, the Gadol Ha-Dor (who was unlikely to be pro-Zionist) would be the de facto leader of the Jewish community (and the thought of the Hazon Ish or the Satmar Rebbe having serious influence was terrifying – remember the Zionists had to shoot Jacob Israel De Haan who was the shliach of the gedolim). The fact that most Shomer Shabbos Israelis support the regime, and serve in the army, shows the Rabbanut has fulfilled its primary mission. While there are Gedolim in Eretz Yisrael, they have little or no involvement in running the political system or the economy, and for most Israelis, the Zionist dream of a nation free of the yoke of Torah has been realized.

To eliminate the secular stranglehold on Israeli life it would be necessary to convince the seculars to emigrate (perhaps as part of a peace agreement in which the goyim pay them oodles of money to relocate, combined with agreements of western countries to accept them as immigrants). It should be noted the emigration of secular Israelis is common, and many are well established in their new homelands.. In such a scenario, the idea of an autonomous Jewish homeland, dominated by Daas Torah, could co-exist with a Palestinian/Islamic state on the theory that Haredim don’t feel the need to run the government. If would be similar to the pre-zionist status quo when Turkey was the colonial power and Jews didn’t get involved in Ottoman politics. An advantage of being part of an Islamic state, even though it would mean limited civil rights for Jews, would be the prohibition of abortion and other toeiva (note the such bans would be an anathema to the Zionists).

I have many MO relatives in Israel. Lets label them efrat jews. Who “bshita” only eat regular rabbanut (meaning a large percentage of the extended family wont eat at their weddings). If the Rabbanut didnt exist, I do not see them getting more frum nor strengthening their standards in kashrus. I see them accepting tzohar or some similar organization.
And on the other end of the spectrum do you really see chareidi kashrus organizations uniting? Whenever I go to israel, according to my charedi relatives, I cant eat anywhere. Even the biggest name hashgochos “have issues” the mashgiach there cant be trusted and the mashgiach there cant be trusted. It kinda makes me sick how fractured it is.

This is pure idiocy and ignorance. Or to quote Ramban: אין טעם ואין ריח.

Let me set the record somewhat straight before the resident Appalachian Transcarpathians weigh in.

1) First of all, the OP vastly overestimates the willingness to fund independent Kashrut organizations and the necessary (expensive) infrastructure. Even Tzohar, in addition to its fundraising, depends to a certain degree upon Rav Stav’s position as the Rav of the city of Shoham, affiliated Rabbis’ positions within the Rabbanut and the Rabbanut Kashrus infrastructure. Let me be clear: I am not attacking Rav Stav or Tzohar. Whether the OP and folks here like it or not, Tzohar has become a legit alternative to the Rabbanut and Misrad HaDatot.

2) There is the Rabbanut and there is the Misrad HaDatot. They are two different, albeit connected entities. The Rabbanut is under the Misrad HaDatot. That was how you ended up with the bizarre situation of a minister threatening the tenure of a Chief Rabbi.

3) The Misrad HaDatot is a government ministry that is corrupt and full of Shas and Agudist lackeys. That corruption was how you ended up with the totally preventable situation about 10-15 years ago where the Petach Tikva Beis Din decided (brainlessly) to reject a completely legit conversion done in the USA and thereafter experienced massive blowback from American Orthodox Jewry, from LWMO to Charedim. Rav David Lau warned the court of blowback on both politcal and halachic grounds, but the Shas and Agudist lackeys decided they knew better and got egg on their faces as a result. From the perspective of both an American and an Israeli, it was incredibly embarassing.

The reason why so many Chilonim hate the Rabbanut is because of the Misrad HaDatot, not the Rabbanut in of itself. The Misrad HaDatot dictates – before marriage – who the bride and groom are to learn Hilchos Nidda from. Outside Yishuvim and DL majority areas, they are usually Charedi individuals who should not be teaching Chilonim. Yes, Chilonim are hostile to the idea of learning Hilchos Niddah and they come in with a massive chip on their shoulder, which they should not do. Charedim do not help, considering their inability to reach Chilonim in any meaningful manner.

The only reasonable employees at the Misrad HaDatot are those who are not Charedi. I know this first hand. Upon Aliyah, it was a Charedi clerk who wanted to declare our Ketubah invalid on grounds of “not liking” wording. The wording was the standard American. It was his DL supervisor who first berated the clerk (he recognized my Rav’s name on the marriage certificate), made the clerk call my Rav early in the morning in the USA – while I was in the office, and ask his question. My Rav’s response was, “You call me to verify other Rabbonim. You’re questioning a wedding I performed?”. Even Charedim don’t want to interact with Charedim at the Misrad HaDatot.

4) There is the Rabbanut itself. It is a government office, but its purpose is to maintain a specific level of Orthodox Judaism that is more or less acceptable to all. It intersects with the average Israeli at major points in life such as birth, bris milah, marriage/divorce and death. For the most part it does what it is supposed to do. They try their best, but they are hamstrung by both the secular legal and political system and Charedi politics and policy.

5) Kashrus: The Rabbanut does all the work and is minimally the equivalent of the OU. Charedi hechsherim show up, check one set of lungs (not enough to verify for Kashrus purposes), look at a few ingredients, then leave. The hechsherim are worthless. It’s similar to how the OU does the overwhelming majority of the work in the USA, and the Charedim just piggyback again and do a worthless, cursory check. Charedim might as well rely on the OU and the Rabbanut.

6) If the OP thinks abolishing the Rabbanut will end the things he would like to see disappear, he is blind. Chilonim will just consider it a victory and then try to ban funding to both Charedi and DL Yeshivot and other institutions.

akuperma > autonomous Jewish homeland, dominated by Daas Torah, could co-exist with a Palestinian/Islamic state

I have my doubts this will work out. If you look at last 80 years, minorities – from Christians to Yazidis – were not treated well in Middle East. Many are dead or left the region. Even if Daas Torah were better in their relationships with the government than daas Yazidis, I am not sure whether R Schach would negotiate successfully with ISIS.

Yo might say that things are “different now” – but we heard this many times in history. Besides Hamas and such that might be argued away by their hostility towards Zionism, if you look, for example, at Democracy Index, almost all middle eastern countries stayed at same level or slightly decreased over last 20 years.