Status quo (Israel)

In Israel, the term status quo (or the secular–religious status quo) refers to the political understanding between religious and secular political parties not to alter the communal arrangement in relation to religious matters, in a predominantly secular population. The established Jewish religious communities in Israel desire to maintain and promote the religious character of the state, while the secular community wishes to reduce the impact of religious regulations in their everyday lives. Occasionally, one political side seeks to make changes to inter-communal arrangements, but these are often met by fierce political opposition from the other side. The status quo preserves the established religious relations in Israel, and only small changes are usually made.

The prevailing view attributes the origins of the status quo to a letter sent by David Ben-Gurion, as chairman of the Jewish Agency Executive, on 19 June 1947, to the ultra-Orthodox Agudat Israel, in order to form a united policy to present to the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP), which had commenced its fact-finding tour 4 days earlier. The letter was meant to address their concerns that the emerging State of Israel will be a secular one, which might hurt the status of religion and religious institutions, as well as the values of their followers.

In the letter, David Ben-Gurion stated that neither the Jewish Agency Executive nor any other body in the country is authorized to determine in advance the constitution of the emerging Jewish state, and its secular character. One precondition from the U.N, for the establishment of the Jewish state was freedom of thought and freedom of speech to all its citizens. It was considered that the letter would satisfy the concerns of religious parties. The letter stipulated policy principles in four main areas that were considered fundamental to Orthodox Judaism:

Despite the fact that Ben-Gurion's letter referred only to few basic issues, it has become the basis of regulating the relation between state and religion in Israel.

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