The study shows a low rate of participation in the workforce in the ultra-Orthodox towns.

Workforce numbers show low rates in both Modi’in Ilit and Betar Ilit and only slightly higher rates among the ultra-Orthodox in Jerusalem and Bnei Brak, though in Elad, a mixed ultra-Orthodox national-religious city, there is a higher workforce rate. The same goes for heterogeneous neighborhoods of Beit Shemesh, Netanya and Ashdod.

“A heterogeneous makeup is likely to give the ultra-Orthodox population the possibility of enjoying the best of both worlds – the ultra-Orthodox neighborhood ‘world’ and the overall municipal ‘world,'” according to the document.

In favor of separation

Town planner and lawyer Prof. Rachelle Alterman, head of the Technion Graduate Program in Urban and Regional Planning, has a different opinion. Alterman was a member of the National Planning and Construction Council and a partner in the decision to establish the ultra-Orthodox town of Kasif.

She believes there is no scope for integrating the ultra-Orthodox into heterogeneous towns, even though homogeneous ultra-Orthodox towns will need more help from the public coffers.

“It’s very easy to preach against building ultra-Orthodox towns, but ultimately the heads of heterogeneous local authorities and populations are not interested in absorbing a large mass of ultra-Orthodox residents,” she said. “Clearly ultra-Orthodox towns or neighborhoods require a lot of funding but in my opinion not with a greater gap than other towns. However, the town of Kasif, which is slated to go up near Arad, could be a poverty trap because it is located far from sources of employment. It would have been better to build ultra-Orthodox towns and neighborhoods close to areas where there are jobs.” Alterman says heterogeneous towns are an economic and social falsehood.

“Are the national-religious in Beit Shemesh getting along well with the ultra-Orthodox population? They really aren’t,” she said. “There too the national religious are leaving. At the end of the day combining a non-ultra-Orthodox population with an ultra-Orthodox population means subordination to the ultra-Orthodox way of life and the other populations are not interested in this.”