The scenes from Bnei Brak on Sunday were difficult to watch. Two young women in IDF uniform, members of the Education and Youth Corps, came to the city for a simple welfare visit to a fellow soldier’s home. They were not distributing draft notices. They were not enforcing anything. Yet rumors spread that military police were in the area. Within minutes, a crowd formed. The soldiers were chased. Trash bins were overturned. A police car was flipped. A motorcycle was set on fire.
It is clear that something deeper than a momentary outburst has taken place. This was not just anger. It was a failure of systems. False information traveled faster than truth. No one had the authority or the tools to stop it in time. And once emotions took over, reason disappeared.
What happened in Bnei Brak showed that the gap between parts of the chareidi street and the state has become dangerous. When a phone alert or message can mobilize hundreds of people on a false premise, when soldiers cannot walk safely in a Jewish city, something is badly wrong. This is no longer just about the draft. It is about trust, communication, and control.
That is why Israel should seriously consider calling in President Trump’s Board of Peace.
The Board of Peace was created by President Donald Trump to deal with conflicts that normal politics cannot solve. Its main focus has been Gaza, but its broader mission is to restore order, rebuild trust, and create workable systems in places where tensions have spun out of control. It is not meant to replace governments. It is meant to help them function when they are stuck.
Bnei Brak and the broader “chareidim versus the state” issue fits that description.
Right now, there is no clear system for handling sensitive situations in chareidi neighborhoods. There is no fast, trusted way for the army to explain what is happening before rumors spread. There is no agreed-upon emergency channel between security forces and community leaders. Everything is improvised. And improvisation is a recipe for chaos.
The Board of Peace specializes in building practical frameworks. That could mean clear rules about how the IDF operates in sensitive areas. It could mean permanent liaison teams made up of respected rabbanim and officials who can intervene immediately. It could mean rapid-response fact-checking networks that shut down false reports before they explode. It could mean agreed-upon de-escalation procedures so that police and residents know exactly what to do when tensions rise.
These are not ideological solutions. They are management solutions. And that is exactly what is missing.
Another reason the Board matters is neutrality. Israel’s political system is deeply divided. Every incident becomes ammunition. Some use Bnei Brak to attack the Torah world. Others use it to attack the government. In that environment, any internal mediation effort is immediately suspected of bias.
An outside framework changes that. Because the Board of Peace is not part of Israeli coalition politics, it can bring people to the table without automatically being seen as “on one side.”
There is also an important human factor here: Jared Kushner, who is a central figure on the Board. He is also a frum Jew who understands the chareidi world from the inside. He knows what Torah learning means. He understands the fears about spiritual erosion. He respects rabbinic authority. At the same time, he has spent years working at the highest levels of government and diplomacy.
He can speak the language of policymakers and the language of yeshiva families. He can sit with generals and with roshei yeshiva. He is trusted in Washington and understood in frum homes. If there is anyone who can bridge this divide without insulting either side, it is him.
Calling in the Board of Peace would not mean giving up sovereignty. It would mean asking for help in building a system that Israel has not been able to build on its own. It would not decide who must enlist and who must not. It would not rewrite laws. What it would do is prevent disagreement from turning into disorder.
There is another reason this matters: דרכיה דרכי נועם וכל נתיבותיה שלום. The ways of Torah are pleasant, and its paths are peace. That is not a slogan for calm times. It is a demand for moments of tension.
Running after Jewish soldiers, humiliating them, and burning police vehicles is not protest. It is chilul Hashem. It weakens the Torah world. It harms innocent people. It damages the entire nation.
At the same time, ignoring the fears and frustrations inside the chareidi community is also wrong. People feel unheard. They feel targeted. They feel that decisions are made about them without them. That resentment builds until it explodes.
Israel does not need more speeches. It needs a structure that works.
The Board of Peace was created for places where politics has failed and systems have collapsed. Inviting the Board in, with Jared Kushner playing a central role, would be a step toward rebuilding trust, restoring order, and preventing future disasters.
And that, more than any statement, would be a true kiddush Hashem.
Signed,
Ilan Arterman, PhD
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17 Responses
Sociologically, this behavior is typical for third world countries, or poor uneducated enclaves within normal countries, where a false rumor can call multitudes to action without any leadership to control them. That this could happen in the towns ostensibly full of Torah, and despite Talmidei Chachomim telling their students to stay away, is a call for self-reflection.
Kushner is Shabbos-violator married to a shiksa who underwent a fake so-called conversion with the Church-attending “rabbi” Haskel Lookstein.
He is hardly qualified.
I like the faith in this so-called Board of peace which hasn’t actually done anything yet and has absolutely no chance of disarming and policing Hamas. Nice fantasy though. I wonder how Israel will appreciate all those Indonesian soldiers they’re offering
We don’t need the board of peace. We need President Trump to send battle ships with whole squadron of fighter planes to bring order to the Israeli government. Army helicopters should help keep an eye on israeli police so that they don’t hurt young protesters. Just as the president is gearing up to protect the young Iranian protesters he should gear up the military to protect Chareidi protesters. After all it was the Chareidim in America that voted for Trump three times. We were the biggest of his supporters and held Trump car parades in New York and elsewhere. If you need to speak to someone in Israel about a shipment of military personal,one of the greatest activists in meah shearim is yoelish Kraus. You can google him and I am sure he will help arrange where in meah shearim you can drop the military vehicles. Thank you for your attention.
I think, saying the cops were innocently, sounds fake and it’s very hard to believe. Regardless of innocence or intent, it’s too bad. If they come there to draft or for any other reason nobody cares about the intent honestly. Get out!
That’s all. Their not wanted there and they will have to live with that. Don’t go there lol.
“He is also a frum Jew who understands the chareidi world from the inside.”
AFAIK, IIRC, he has limited experience with “Haredim” as involved in this issue. He is from the MO world, with contact with members of the Habad Lubavitch sect as well. However, they are outliers, not representative of the Haredi world overall.
I think history shows that bringing foreign governments to settle internal conflicts is not a good idea.
And it doesn’t matter how bad the other side is. Aristobolus was no more true to the Torah than Bennett.
Jared Kushner cannot be asked to referee this situation as I truly believe he is biased against frum. He has not prioritized shemiras Shabbos nor tznius in his married life and as his wealth continues to increase by leaps and bounds, he moves further away from even a modern orthodox lifestyle. Landing on an aircraft carrier on Shabbos with Witkoff to greet and visit with US troops is pure chilul Shabbos. That activity on Shabbos was purely recreational with no national security implications. Unfortunately, Ivanka seems to have the upper hand in their relationship when questions of religious observance come to the forefront.
So this professor wants to bring in Turkey,and twenty other countries to keep the peace in Chareidi neighborhoods. This must be a Purim joke. Any ten year old can tell you what to do. Dont instigate a community by sending in lady soldiers when that is like sending in a neo nazi wearing swastikas into a crowded Jewish neighborhood. It’s called looking for trouble. You want peace. Stop drafting girls into the army. Close all public schools and turn them into yeshivas. All streets closed on Shabbos. All secular must respect Chareidim. Stop discrimination against Chareidim. The board of peace is not going to accomplish anything. Better bring in warships and fighter jets to back up the Chareidi youth who are trying to bring down this anti religious lefty Supreme Court.
Please take down Flatbush yid comment. Comparing other jews to nazis should never be tolerated period. Having such a comment posted on a jewish website is an embarrassment and extremely hurtful.
We can agree or disagree if Kushner is the right guy or not, but the idea of bringing in a 3rd party is fabulous.
That country is headed for a civil war.
They need someone outside that’s not involved personally or politically to help them figure things out.
The Nazis murdered our physical bodies but the tziyonim murdered our souls which is worse,far worse. When we are confronted by physical attack like on Purim,we prayed. When we were confronted by spiritual attack we fought back like Chanukah. The people in Bnei brak were correct. They had the right to turn over the police car as they were under a spiritual attack.
Yeah I don’t know why kushner gets all this frum credit. For what having had a bris Mila once and never looking at the torah again. What a sham
First thank you for signing your name, it shows you are a human, a mentch.
I disagree WITH Calling a third party .
Though I don’t remember clearly were I learned it. It was I believe in roman times , Jews were fighting amongst themselves, when someone said. “Hey let’s call the romans to settle the dispute” so they called the romans and they settled it alright, they said “we will settle here and now WE ARE THE BOSS!!
Signed
Dovid Richter
@duvee:
Be careful with your accusations and name-calling, as there are numerous mitzvos diOraysa at stake. She converted with a “Modern Orthodox” court; so, you can’t blame her for their theological issues.
As far as I remember modern orthodox is supposed to keep Shabbos. They are way past that. And the questionable converting rabbi who visits Cathedrals for Interfaith praying kind of fits right in with the Kushner family’s observance as you can clearly see. And this is why converting is best left to the ultra orthodox
The audacity and stupidity in this essay are astonishing.
We will take guidance from GEDOLEI YISRAEL! Not from you!
UNBELIEVABLE!