Q&A: Dividing the State into Districts
Dividing the State into Districts
Question
The issue of religion and state is extremely explosive in our country. Could dividing the country into districts (like cantons in Switzerland) solve the problem?
Let us assume there is a Haredi district where all taxes go to the district treasury, and from there the budgets for yeshivot and kollels are funded. There is no draft obligation, but the IDF is not responsible for security. The internet is filtered, there is gender separation on public transportation, marriages are registered by the rabbinical court, there is no requirement to study the core curriculum, and so on. On the other hand, there is a secular atheist district where taxes fund culture and cinema but nothing religious, there is mandatory conscription but not in order to defend settlements, strict prohibition of gender separation applies, there is civil marriage, public transportation on the Sabbath, they study secular culture and sciences but not Judaism, and so on. Don’t you think that would solve a lot of problems?
Answer
This is a hypothetical discussion with no practical feasibility whatsoever, so it is a waste of time to discuss it. By the way, what you are describing is not cantons but a separation into several different states. That is of course even less possible.
Discussion on Answer
For lots of reasons.
Geographically too, it is impossible to divide up. And a Jewish state without an army would be slaughtered. Economically it is not possible either. It’s a waste of time.
Why should leftists be required to fight to defend settlements, or non-Haredim to defend Haredim? Each district would be required to defend itself; it could also pay another district in exchange for security services.
Economically it is excellent—no one would be able to come with complaints about discrimination and inequality. Whoever couldn’t manage could move to another district, or alternatively bring in more money.
It is realistic to advance small pieces of this idea—for example, to transfer authority (even partial authority) over education, welfare, transportation, and the like to the local authorities.
You meant, Isaac, to ask why the settlers would defend the leftists. When I take even a superficial look at the map, I understand that if not for the settlements in Samaria, we would have had October 7 on the coastal plain and in its communities.
Trump is now shutting down the federal Department of Education and leaving educational matters to the states. In Israel too, it would be possible for education, including its funding, to be under local government authority. The local government would impose an education tax and pay the salaries of education personnel.
Why is it so impossible?