The key to explaining the fluctuations in ultra-Orthodox society is the realization that for the ultra-Orthodox, the principle of carrot and stick works mainly on the side of the carrot. The operation of a stick – economic decrees, a threat of non-recruitment sanctions, coercive university studies – does the opposite.
The writer, Dr. Reuven Gal, is a senior research fellow at the Samuel Neaman Institute at the Technion, a former chief psychologist in the IDF, Deputy Chief of the NSC and Head of the National Civic Service Administration.
