Forget Judicial Overhaul, We Need Editorial Overhaul

For several months now, there have been massive weekly protests all over Israel against Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul. The protesters, numbering in the thousands, represent a significant segment of the Israeli population. What are the arguments against judicial overhaul? Unfortunately, the one place you will be hard-pressed to find an answer to that question is in the Orthodox Jewish news media. Do you recall reading a single opinion piece that presented arguments against judicial overhaul? I certainly don’t.

It’s no secret that the Orthodox Jewish media is in favor of judicial overhaul, which they have made abundantly clear in their editorials and opinion pieces. That’s okay. All news organizations have their agenda. I have my own reservations about a far-reaching and exceedingly powerful Israeli Supreme Court. But it’s wrong for them not to publish opinion pieces that present arguments against judicial overhaul. And that’s true of other issues as well. What are arguments in favor of more gun control? What are arguments that support the notion that climate change is caused by human activity? What are arguments that Chasidic children should get improved math and English education in their schools?

The frum news media does a terrible disservice to their readers when they only present one side of the issue. Presenting diverse opinions on an issue allows people to understand opposing arguments. This is important because it can solidify one’s own views, or it can tweak or change them entirely, which is a good thing. No one has a monopoly on sound logic. Debate instructors will frequently teach their students to ensure that they have a thorough understanding of their opponents’ views, oftentimes encouraging them to present it as well. Once you know and understand your opponent’s key arguments, you can then confidently undermine them.

Another major benefit of publishing opinion pieces from different perspectives is that it allows people to understand that there are oftentimes nuances to the issues; it’s not always black and white. Oftentimes, it’s a complex problem with no easy solution. As a result, we will start seeing our ideological opponents less like enemies in a battlefront and more like people with well-intentioned arguments and positions.

I must admit that one reason I like reading the Queens Jewish Link is Warren Hecht’s weekly column, which offers a refreshing, politically moderate perspective that is almost non-existent in Orthodox news media. I don’t always agree with his positions but it certainly makes me better informed of the opposing viewpoints.

The NY Times is viewed by many Orthodox Jews, for valid reasons, as being heavily biased against Israel and having an anti-religious agenda. Yet one of the paper’s regular opinion columnists is Bret Stephens, an influential conservative journalist who previously served as an editor for the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal, a conservative-leaning newspaper. His very first opinion piece for the NY Times was entitled, Climate of Complete Certainty, in which he was critical of some aspects of climate change Orthodoxy. You can imagine how well that opinion was received by the paper’s liberal readership.

In Israel, the major left-wing paper is Haaretz, a newspaper that some might reasonably argue is to the left of the NY Times. Despite its infamous reputation of being fiercely anti-Chareidi and pro-Palestinian, the paper occasionally publishes opinion articles by Rabbi Avi Shafran, who is the Director of Public Affairs for Agudath Israel of America. His voice offers a much needed Orthodox and conservative perspective on issues. A recent article he wrote, for example, was entitled The New York Times’ Blatant, Ugly Bias Against Hasidic Jews. I very much dislike Haaretz’s agenda, but I like that they give Rabbi Avi Shafran their platform to express his views.

One can argue that the frum media does not have to present a diversity of views on political issues because we can reliably count on the mainstream media to do that. The problem with that is frum people, like all people, are loyal to their news organizations. Generally, people who watch Fox News don’t watch CNN, and people who read the Wall Street Journal do not read the New York Times. This phenomenon is also true among frum Jews: How many frum Jews read both the Hamodia and the Yated? Probably not too many. Jewish news organizations know about media loyalty and therefore they shouldn’t shirk from their responsibility to provide readers with a diversity of opinions on the issues of the day.

The frum media industry needs an editorial overhaul, as they need to do a better job in offering their consumers a more nuanced perspective on news events. They can start by presenting a diversity of viewpoints on political issues. As a result, our positions and arguments will become more fine-tuned. A more nuanced approach will also mitigate the polarization and political tribalism rampant in our times. It’s a win-win situation for everyone.

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Tzvi Haimov has a degree in political science from Queens College. Haimov currently resides in Fresh Meadows, Queens, and can be reached for comment at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..