Yesterday’s daycare tragedy shook Israel to its core. Infants lost their lives in circumstances that should never have been possible in a functioning society. In the hours that followed, the public discourse split into three main directions. Each reflects a different instinctive reaction. Only some contain elements of truth, and none, on its own, offers a complete answer.
The first response came from parts of the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) leadership. Instead of taking responsibility, they rushed to deflect blame toward coded enemies: “the attorney-general,” “the Supreme Court,” or the state. This response deserves unequivocal condemnation. It is morally wrong to politicize the deaths of children, and it reflects a deeper failure of leadership.
Leadership begins with accountability. When leaders refuse to acknowledge responsibility, they abandon the very people they claim to represent.
The second reaction asked an essential question: where was the State of Israel? Why is early childhood education, from birth to age three, so poorly regulated and effectively abandoned? This criticism is largely justified.
For years, this sector has existed in a regulatory vacuum, with inconsistent oversight and inadequate standards. However, recognizing the problem is only the first step. The solution cannot be regulation for its own sake. Over-regulation risks choking an already fragile system, as we have seen in parts of the kindergarten and school frameworks.
Responsibility cannot be deflected
What is needed is smart, enabling regulation – focused on safety, professional standards, and transparency – paired with serious budgeting. In my view, local authorities are well-positioned to take responsibility for this domain, but only if they are given the necessary resources and authority.
The third response was harsher: a sweeping indictment of haredi society itself, accusing it of repeated disregard for human life. At first glance, this seems to contradict the call for greater state responsibility. I believe it does not. Both can – and must – be true simultaneously.
Yes, the state must take responsibility for children aged zero to three. But at the same time, haredi society must take responsibility for itself.
The list of tragedies is far too long: the Meron disaster, the collapse of the bleachers in Givat Ze’ev, the death of a 14-year-old boy during a protest at the entrance to Jerusalem, vaccine refusal leading to deadly measles outbreaks, the child trapped on a crane and saved by sheer luck, the child run over during a demonstration – and now this.
Anyone familiar with haredi neighborhoods knows the reality: widespread disregard for the rule of law, dangerous illegal construction, and public-space behavior more reminiscent of the developing world than a modern state.
Four-year-old girls leading younger siblings as if they were responsible adults; routine traffic violations by all road users; improvised use of buildings for public purposes, often without proper infrastructure – exactly as occurred in yesterday’s tragedy. These criticisms are painful, but they are justified.
I say this as someone who knows haredi society from the inside and as a brother speaking to brothers. A direct line connects these events: contempt for the law, a culture of autonomy that operates as a parallel reality, and, ultimately, a dangerous erosion of the sanctity of human life.
I could not sleep last night thinking of the infants who lost their lives due to negligence. Love does not mean silence. Brotherhood demands rebuke. No society is immune to mistakes – but the true test is whether it learns. After the Tzafit pre-military academy disaster, Israel radically changed safety protocols across formal and informal education. What, if anything, has changed in haredi society after its many disasters?
How many must die before the message sinks in?
With love, with pain, and with responsibility: it is time to bring order to this parallel reality.
The writer is currently serving as deputy mayor of Jerusalem and is the leader of “Hitorerut” – a local political movement uniting Jerusalemites, secular and religious alike, from the Left, Right, and center.