New UTJ lawmaker says he backs studying secular subjects, helping Haredi soldiers, mass employment

New United Torah Judaism Eliakim Stark voices a series of positions in a new interview that diverge from those of most of his party members, including supporting studying secular subjects at schools, helping ultra-Orthodox soldiers, and backing mass employment alongside Torah studies.

Unlike most of his colleagues, Stark lived abroad — in Belgium — until the age of 16, and is familiar with the ultra-Orthodox way of life outside of Israel, which includes working alongside Torah studies and studying math, English and other secular subjects at school.

In an interview with Channel 13, Stark says that as an MK, he wants to care for “hundreds of thousands of young Haredim who yearn for employment opportunities,” acknowledging that unlike abroad, the ultra-Orthodox community in Israel has grown to the point that its effect on the national economy cannot be ignored.

“We have to help them. There will be thousands, if not tens of thousands, more families earning a living,” he says.

Asked about core curriculum in schools, which most ultra-Orthodox leaders reject, Stark says: “If there are Haredim who want to study core subjects, they must be given the opportunities in a way that is adapted to the ultra-Orthodox community. I think this is the main challenge, for the state to understand that instead of re-educating the Haredim, it needs to enable and give them the opportunities.”

Stark belongs to the Belz Hasidic sect, whose spiritual leaders have endorsed schools that teach core subjects and taken a relatively lenient stance on military enlistment.

Stark says the thousands of ultra-Orthodox soldiers must be given assistance with whatever they need, adding that senior ultra-Orthodox leaders have told him as much. He declines to elaborate, saying that things in this regard that are done in private are far more effective than those done publicly, which can draw backlashes.

Amid negotiations between his party and the bloc led by Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot, Stark says cooperation with anyone in the Knesset, including the Arab-led parties, is legitimate for the Haredi parties if this can work in their interest.