Tel Aviv as 'Altneuland'

The demonstrations against housing costs began in Tel Aviv, which naturally prompted people to focus their attention on the gargantuan prices of apartments in the big city both for purposes of owning and, even worse, renting. Apartments in Tel Aviv cost more than apartments in Europe and, in some cases, even Manhattan.

The protesters were opposed by naysayers who wagged their fingers as if to say: “You don’t have to live in Tel Aviv. There is cheaper housing in the outlying areas of the country.” The mayor of Tel Aviv, however, backed up the youths’ desire to live in the city due to the quality of life and the abundant culture available. This argument quickly evaporated after tent protests began springing up throughout the country, including in poorer areas and among those living in public housing projects as well as development towns.

Indeed, the outcry is genuine. The growth of the Israeli economy has also entailed negative socioeconomic repercussions. The prices are skyrocketing and housing is unaffordable for youths who have finished three years of exhausting army service. Working families are also unable to bear the costs of vital goods and services, and finding a place to live is becoming an impossible task for young people, including those from the middle class.

It is interesting to note that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was aware of this problem from the outset. He made proposals to alleviate the situation, going so far as to include a special clause in the Likud platform that called for aiding public housing tenants as well as discharged IDF soldiers. Yet the prevailing reality in Israel has proved that the promises of the ruling party are largely insignificant.

The coalition agreement between the Likud and Agudat Yisrael, the original political party representing the ultra-Orthodox, reads: “An emphasis will be placed on expanding the availability of proper housing for the Haredi sector on a scale that will exceed the supply currently present in the suitable population centers.” There is not one word in the agreement about public-housing residents or discharged soldiers, nor is there a word about non-Haredi young couples.

The combination of notorious balance-of-power politics and government neglect scuttled the anti-bureaucratic legislation that Netanyahu proposed. Since no alternative to the premier’s suggestions was put forth, the situation has devolved into a justified public outcry.

As for Tel Aviv, the expression “the State of Tel Aviv” has both positive and negative connotations. There is no doubt that the big city’s allure – the unlimited opportunities and options for those seeking culture, entertainment, and leisure activities – has only increased in recent years.

But it seems to me that Tel Aviv’s allure has another dimension: The city is a manifestation of an alternative political and socioeconomic reality. It is a reality that is characterized by tolerance, a “live-and-let-live” attitude that grants individuals the freedom to lead their lives as they wish without fear of being singled out for criticism by the arbiters of halachah.

Tel Aviv is a city that welcomes the masses of people who descend on it every Friday night, despite the presence of religious parties in the municipal coalition (It is worth noting that there is no major difference between the Haredi and religious representation in the city council and that in the Knesset, yet the election system in Tel Aviv allows for a vastly different distribution of power). A walk along the boulevards and the promenade as well as a trip to the beach offers firsthand evidence of the multicultural and multi-ethnic makeup of the city’s residents and revelers.

Tel Aviv is also home to the Bialik-Rogozin School, which is primarily an institution that caters to the children of migrant workers, those who are constantly threatened by the interior minister’s expulsion plans. The school instills in them a unique, humanist, Israeli, and Jewish education that ensures their smooth integration into the fabric of city life. Tel Aviv is a city in which gays and lesbians enjoy official status and support from the municipality. It is no coincidence that Tel Aviv is listed as one of the top 10 tourist destinations for the LGBT community.

The end result is a multicultural city that lives in relative harmony with all of its composite parts. Shenkin Street – where the religious seminary belonging to the Belz Hasidic dynasty and the shtiebel, which services the Ger Hasidic movement, around nightclubs that blast hip-hop music – is a symbol of Tel Avivian coexistence. A Chabad community center and the Ba’alei Melacha synagogue sit adjacent to the oft-frequented Shenkin Garden. While street riots were raging in Jerusalem between Haredim and the police over the Karta parking lot, Tel Aviv’s party-goers and its devout followers of Moses’ Torah were meeting on the same sidewalks.

This is not to say that the city is devoid of serious socioeconomic issues. The gap between the south and the north continues to disturb those who strive for genuine equality. But Tel Aviv is the complete antithesis to the far-right Haredism and religious nationalism that is gaining traction in the Knesset. The champions of this ideology are first and foremost preoccupied with coercion. They seek to impose a religious way of life on the secular public. The rabbinate wishes to forcibly apply its worldview on marrying couples. The ultra-Orthodox compel those wishing to join the Jewish people to undergo a strict, Haredi conversion. The right-wing seeks to impose the national anthem, the flag, and the Cave of the Patriarchs on our students. The regime of commissars wishes to impose its principles on the citizen who wishes to receive any kind of aid. The government wants to punish those who seek to express their opposition to the settlements by way of boycotting their goods. It also wants to punish religious Jews who do not affiliate themselves with the Orthodox stream of Judaism.

If these matters fell under the jurisdiction of the Tel Aviv municipality, the result would be completely different. It would lead to a recognition of those who are different, a tolerance of thoughts and beliefs, an acceptance of alternate streams of Judaism – principles that are demanded by Tel Aviv public opinion. The voice of a woman singing is not forbidden in Tel Aviv, as it is in the Knesset – and, soon, perhaps in the IDF. Not only is the Sabbath the seventh day of rest that the Jewish people gave to the world, it is also a day for family outings and other activities.

In other words, Tel Aviv is the realization of the idea embodied in the principle of individual freedom. It exercises these principles despite significant limitations. Indeed, an anti-democratic law requires that municipalities heed orders that are handed down by officials who are subservient to the central government in Jerusalem.

The ultra-nationalism and Haredism, the coalition agreements, the Knesset votes on laws advocating religious coercion – all of these contradict the Tel Avivian way of life. This, too, explains the desire of the masses who wish to live in the city, and not in its satellites. Secular youths who reside in Ramat Gan and Petach Tikva are forced to endure ghost towns on Saturdays. All of the nightclubs and hot spots are closed, and they have no mode of public transportation with which they can reach the city in which everything is open on Saturday.

Those who castigate the protesters are barking up the wrong tree. It is natural for secular as well as religiously observant young people to prefer Tel Aviv. The anti-liberal atmosphere that hovers over its suburbs is the reason for this, and it is all the more true when it comes to the outlying areas of the country that are largely cut off from Tel Aviv due to the slow and heavy traffic.

It seems to me that the mass migration to Tel Aviv – which includes those who vote for right-wing parties – is indicative of the people’s yearning for an anti-Haredi-religious-nationalist way of life. It speaks to their desire to belong to a liberal, open, and tolerant society. This is the Jewish state that Herzl envisioned in "Altneuland," a Jewish state that respects the traditions of its nation but is liberal and tolerant to others, including non-Jews. Suddenly, I remembered something – the name “Tel Aviv” is actually the Hebrew translation of the word "Altneuland."

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