ABSTRACT
A major question confronting multicultural, democratic states is how the state should deal with minority groups, when key aspects of their culture refl ect antiliberal values and when such groups do not ascribe central importance to the freedom and status of the individual. In this essay, we wish to discuss this issue within the context of the fi eld of education by examining the relationship between state offi cials and the ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) minority in Israel. In recent years, there has been a broad public debate and bitter political struggle over the proper relationship between the state and the ultra-Orthodox educational system in Israel. One of the unique characteristics of this debate is that the main arena of the struggle has been the court system, primarily the Supreme Court sitting as a High Court of Justice. Recently, the High Court has rendered decisions on major issues concerning the Haredi system of education in Israel. These decisions refl ect the ideological, political positions of the Court on several issues: the degree of autonomy and control that cultural minorities should exert over their own educational institutions; the justifi cation for state intervention with respect to the admissions requirements of these institutions; the treatment of ultra-Orthodox schools vis-à-vis the treatment of public state schools; the arguments for and against public funding for the schools of cultural minorities; and the justifi cation for state intervention in determining the nature and content of their curriculum.
