Is Kadima Finally Realizing that anti-Haredization Is a Good Electoral Strategy?

At least since the parking lot riots and Bibi's support for a two-state solution, I've wondered why Kadima has not moved more aggressively to at least adopt some Shinuiesque principles.

While being too aggressively secular is going to limit the number of votes, taking a more assertive stance against Haredi excess/isolationism/parasitism/etc. is only going to hurt among people who would never vote for Kadima anyway, while it will quite likely help among nearly all Hilonim and Masoretim and even among many Datim (though they're obviously very unlikely to support Kadima for other reasons).

Mind you, Livni's choice to risk (and as it happened, lose) the ability to become prime minister rather than sell out to Shas and UTJ should have been enough to convince people. However, it wasn't much in the Kadima platform and secular-religious issues were less prominent at the time. Additionally, Yisrael Beitenu had not yet sold itself out pretty much fully to Shas and UTJ, and they WERE making secular-relgious issues part of their platform.

At any rate, Kadima has been taking positive actions in the secular-religious realm lately that will hopefully be emphasized at the (admittedly probably rather distant) next elections.

Plesner-Haredi
"National Service" Taking Place in Yeshivas

MK Yohanan Plesner brought to light some serious chutzpah on the part of the Haredim regarding the national service option under the Tal Law (the need to repeal/greatly modify that law is another issue).

This data indicates that ultra-Orthodox individuals who take this path don't actually take part in secular civil service, which goes against the intention of the law that allows them to forgo military service in favor of civil service. The Tal Law was meant to direct religious youth toward service with Israel's fire department, police or hospitals.

Under the clause that encourages "volunteerism for welfare purposes" Haredi youths opt to volunteer at Haredi yeshivas, and receive payment for their service from the state.

Specifically, out of the 1070 doing national service (which to begin with is only a small portion of the many Haredi men not serving), 834 of them are volunteering at yeshivas. To add insult to injury, single Haredi men (if those exist) get 594 NIS per month, while an Israeli soldier gets between 400 and 430 NIS per month. (I assume they get housed and probably fed on state funds as well, since that seems like ever so barely enough to feed oneself, if that)