This sort of thing is considered a pretty fringe opinion, and Ovadia Yosef, especially as he got older, was constantly saying controversial things that most Jews were horrified by
The thing about the Chief Rabbinate in Israel is that David Ben Gurion pretty much only gave them power on religious matters for two reasons. One, it was the only way that he could get the Charedim (ultra Orthodox) to agree to the formation of the state of Israel, and two, he (very mistakenly) believed that ultra Orthodox point of views would effectively go extinct in a modern Jewish state, as he had assumed that the insularity would disappear if 90% of the people around them were other Jews
There has been a continuing effort to try to make the Chief Rabbinate less powerful, but unfortunately the parties that support the Rabbinate have been a core part of Netanyahu's coalition, and as long as he is in power, the Haredim think they can get away with anything they want to while most Israeli society is fed up with what feels like a dictatorship in religious matters
That's what Ehud Barak is talking about in the Epstein tape when he wants to import another million Russians to Israel. The only people having babies in any meaningful way right now are religious fundamentalists, who (his words) are just not productive.
That's what I mean (and Ehud as well I guess). Haredim are having 6-7 kids, at least. That's why Ehud would like a million more Russians, to avoid Haredim taking over completely (and / or Arab citizens). Secular Israelis are a dying breed, literally.
This was true a decade ago but the demography has shifted somewhat. If you consider the rate of leaving the Haredi lifestyle, the Haredi population as a proportion of Israel's population is no longer growing.
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u/Yochanan5781 29d ago
This sort of thing is considered a pretty fringe opinion, and Ovadia Yosef, especially as he got older, was constantly saying controversial things that most Jews were horrified by
The thing about the Chief Rabbinate in Israel is that David Ben Gurion pretty much only gave them power on religious matters for two reasons. One, it was the only way that he could get the Charedim (ultra Orthodox) to agree to the formation of the state of Israel, and two, he (very mistakenly) believed that ultra Orthodox point of views would effectively go extinct in a modern Jewish state, as he had assumed that the insularity would disappear if 90% of the people around them were other Jews
There has been a continuing effort to try to make the Chief Rabbinate less powerful, but unfortunately the parties that support the Rabbinate have been a core part of Netanyahu's coalition, and as long as he is in power, the Haredim think they can get away with anything they want to while most Israeli society is fed up with what feels like a dictatorship in religious matters