World

Israel Court Faces Orthodox Ire

February 12, 1999 / 12:23 PM EST / AP

Over 200,000 of Israel's most fervently observant Jews gathered in Jerusalem to pray for deliverance from what they call the Anti-Semitism of the Jewish state, reports CBS News Correspondent Jesse Schulman.

Chanting and swaying in prayer, 200,000 Orthodox Jews gathered in Jerusalem on Sunday to protest court rulings they say threaten their way of life.

About 50,000 secular Jews, some with flowers in their hair and dancing to bongo drum rhythms, formed a counter-protest nearby and heard speakers promising a culture war.

Recent Supreme Court decisions cleared the way for seminary students to be drafted, and challenged customary Orthodox control of marriage, burial and other personal status issues.

Last week, leading rabbis called the judges "enemies" and accused them of trying to destroy Judaism.

Thousands of ultra-Orthodox men and women filled a crossroads at Jerusalem's western entrance.

Their voices rose in chant as they read from a specially printed leaflet: "Our Father, our King, obliterate the designs of those who plot against us."

A mile down the road, the secular Jews filled a park and listened to their leaders warn them of a coming cultural clash.

"You must understand this is a war, a war over the character of our beloved country," said Yossi Sarid, the head of the Meretz party, which champions secular rights in Israel.

Secular Jews, who make up 70 percent of Israel's Jewish population, are angry at ultra-Orthodox successes in parliament -- most recently in passing a law forcing members of religious councils to swear allegiance to the Orthodox rabbinate.

There is also much secular resentment because of a 50-year-old political deal allowing religious seminarians to avoid serving in the army.

A recent court ruling ordered the parliament to either codify the deal into law, or draft the seminarians.

The two protests were linked by Ben-Zvi Boulevard, a main thoroughfare. Supporters from both sides met going to and from each demonstration -- and argued vigorously.

"We won't give them the pleasure and the right to bring Israel to the level of Iran," said Rabbi Meir Azari, who leads a Reform synagogue in Tel Aviv. The Reform movement's modernized brand of Judaism is popular in the U.S., and its growing attraction in Israel as a spiritual alternative makes it one of the main targets of the Orthodox demonstrators' wrath. In the fight for the soul of the Jewish state the lines are drawn here - modern versus ancient, tolerant versus traditional.

There was little violence, except for isolated incidents of spitting and shoving. Police reinforcements numbering close to 2,000 poured into Jerusalem.

Menahem Porush, a veteran ultra-Orthodox politician and the organizer of the pray-in, told reporters that "lately the Supreme Court has interfered with relations between God and man."

"This we will not accept," said the 83-year-old ex-legislator.

Prime Ministe Benjamin Netanyahu warned against a "cultural war" between religious and secular Jews.

"The order of the day is to calm passions and to foster dialogue, with the aspiration of achieving national reconciliation," his office said in a statement.

Leaders of both demonstrations seemed in no mood to compromise.

"Do not think for a moment that this is the end, this is just the beginning," Porush said.

Though ultra-Orthodox Jews account for just 10 percent of Israel's population, they wield enormous influence because their political parties have traditionally held the balance of power in the parliament.