The right decision on Litzman

Once again the High of Court of Justice has pulled the chestnuts out of the fire for the government. Yesh Atid successfully convinced the court that United Torah Judaism MK and deputy health minister Yakov Litzman cannot serve as "a deputy minister with the status of minister." There is no such thing. A person with a bachelor's degree is not a doctor.

Israelis have not been overly concerned about this aberration. In fact, most people were already under the impression that Litzman was a full-fledged health minister. He appeared in the group photo the cabinet ministers took at the President's Residence a few days after the 34th government was sworn in.

Jonas Salk, who developed the groundbreaking polio vaccine, was once asked if he was sad because he did not get the Nobel Prize. His response was, "Everybody thinks I got it. So that's fine." This is very much like Litzman's situation.

Litzman's special status reflected an anomaly in Israeli politics. Something was not right. Yitzhak-Meir Levin, who is considered United Torah Judaism's political godfather, served as welfare minister in three successive governments under Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion. He was also one of the signatories of Israel's Declaration of Independence. His faction eventually left the government in 1952 when the Knesset tried to apply the mandatory national service to women (even though he was assured that ultra-Orthodox women would be exempt). But MK Benjamin Mintz and other like-minded moderate haredi lawmakers wanted to see the ultra-Orthodox hold their seat at the cabinet table. Mintz eventually agreed to serve as postal services minister in 1960, in the fourth government. His decision drew fire from his radicalizing haredi constituents and they attacked him with unforgiving cruelty. He died in office a year later, at age 58.

The haredim wanted to have their cake and eat it, too: On the one hand, they refused to share collective responsibility with a Zionist government; on the other hand, they wanted to enjoy the financial benefits that came with having a seat at the cabinet table. This conundrum led to the creation of the special title "deputy minister with the status of minister," a title that lets its holders act like full ministers for all intents and purposes, but without the responsibility of being bound by government decisions. Ever since that title was created, haredi MKs have never missed an opportunity to join the government and tap its coffers, even though their radical rabbis have continued to undermine Israel's modern underpinnings. Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid finally took on this issue, as a member of the opposition, and won. He did the right thing.

Lapid's victory is a victory for good governance in the Knesset and even for United Torah Judaism, which wanted to hold on to this twisted arrangement for as long as it could. Now it is all too eager to join the government bandwagon. Haredi MKs will explain this away by saying they had no choice, using the court they love to despise as cover. By doing so, they will have removed another obstacle, however miniscule, on the path toward the integration of haredim.

The High Court gave the government 60 days to comply with its ruling. But Litzman must not dither; he must remedy the situation on the spot. The special arrangement, which was created almost as an afterthought, will finally come to an end after growing out of proportion for 54 years.

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