The Haredi minority

It seems there is a movement to officially grant the status of "minority" to the Haredi community.

The Haredi community would no longer just be considered Israelis with a different set of priorities. They would legally be able to run their communities how they like, with separate cities and schooling controlled how they want it, and probably all those tzniyus signs would suddenly become legal, etc.

They would be a minority population, just as the Druze and Arabs are, among others.

According to Arutz 7 the concern of granting such status is that others, like the Dati Leumi, might also want this status, along with all the benefits that come with it.

I am not sure why that is a concern. And if they want it, why not grant it? Why grant it to the Haredim and oppose it for the DL - what's the difference? Though, I am not sure they will actually want it - the DL community prides itself on being part and parcel of Israeli society - taking minority status, if they could, would probably harm them in some way.

I see nothing wrong with giving the Haredim minority status. They already get most of the benefits anyway, by efficient use of political influence, so why not give them the status and make it official?

The biggest problem is I see is the demographics issue, especially if the demographics regularly touted by the Haredi community are correct. They often talk about how the high percentage (I dont remember the number thrown around, but it is high) of children in school being Haredi and how by year whatever the country will be mostly Haredi... How does minority status fit in with that? What happens as we get closer to approaching that day when Haredim are no longer actually a real minority?

Or else maybe the biggest problem would be coming up with an actual legal definition of who is Haredi. Would someone be able to qualify for the benefits simply by putting on a black kippa? If it requires having gone to Haredi schools, that might exclude baalei teshuva. I think granting such a legal status would require them to finally come up with actual qualifications to be included in the Haredi community, and that won't be an easy task.

What do you think?

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