A green tax imposed on single-use plastic four years ago — and later repealed — led to a long-term drop in support for environmental issues among ultra-Orthodox Jews, a new study shows.
The ultra-Orthodox community viewed this as a direct attack upon its way of life. Israel is one of the world’s leading per capita users of single-use plastics, partly due to the Haredi community, which uses more single-use plastics than any other demographic.
In November 2021, the government coalition headed by prime minister Naftali Bennett introduced a tax on disposable plastic plates, bowls, cups, and straws. The environment minister at the time, Tamar Zandberg, predicted that it would reduce purchases of plastic items by 40%.
This became a major political issue, including during the national election. The Haredim joined the coalition headed by Benjamin Netanyahu. The repeal of the plastics taxes were the first decision by new Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich of the far-right Religious Zionism Party.
For real, I could go get a basic stamped set of metal utensils from Walmart for less than 50¢ each. They would look like cheap diner utensils, but I’d never need to spend that money again. And besides, if I’m using plastic utensils, I’m probably not worried about my stuff looking like it came from a diner. Instead of spending $10 on a pack of single use plastic utensils, I could get a full set of silverware.
While I agree, this is orthodoxy we’re talking about. I can almost guarantee that the mother and daughters are the ones who default to doing all the housework and homemaking. Orthodox Judaism doesn’t enforce straight up tradwife roles, but it often sits across the table and swaps notes.