In Israel, secular and religious social practices and lifestyles have continued to clash. Israel’s most recent election and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent failure to form a coalition highlighted some of these struggles that continue to divide Israel’s citizens.
Arabs make up about 20 percent of Israeli citizens, a block about equal in size to the Hispanic population in the United States. But while Hispanics in the United States made a big difference in the past election, Arabs in Israel have little impact on Israeli elections.
This week, several thousand Israelis protested against a move by ultra-Orthodox Jews to segregate the sexes. New and proposed laws have been passed that author Gershom Gorenberg describe as ‘undemocratic’. Host Lisa Mullins talks to him from Jerusalem.