Volume 36, Number 17 · November 9, 1989
Israel: The Rise of the Ultra-Orthodox
By Avishai Margalit
What people talk about in Israel seems mostly to be determined by what they saw the evening before on Israel's only television network. Last October, just before the general elections, people were startled to see, in the center of the TV screen, a man in a long, regal, ottoman robe, a tall turban on his head, and John Belushi–style dark glasses that contrasted with his full silvery beard. He was flanked by motionless men in black, all with black beards. The man in the center started murmuring, and the other men repeated in unison what he said. This was, it turned out, an established ritual performed by the former Sephardic chief rabbi, now the spiritual head of the Sephardic ultra-Orthodox party (Shas), which was to do unexpectedly well in the October elections, receiving 6 out of 120 seats in the parliament. On national television, the chief rabbi, Ovadia Yosef, was freeing his devout followers from the holy vows they had previously taken which had bound them to rabbis from rival parties so they could vote for Shas. He was cleansing his followers and cursing his enemies in religious incantation.
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