A green tax imposed on single-use plastic four years ago — and later repealed — led to a long-term drop in support for environmental issues among ultra-Orthodox Jews, a new study shows.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 such items by 40%.
The tax on disposable plastic became a major political issue for this population, including during the national election campaign. 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.
Religion is not so much a choice, it is a conviction. If you believe in God and his laws, then you have to observe them as good as possible.
That is also not the point here. Jews did just fine without single use plastic for thousands of years. There is no religious reason as to why they need that stuff. I am not familiar enough with the specifics of Judaism to say for sure, but i would expect that the preparation for and work that is left over after the Sabbath is part of the concept.
So just leave the dishes and clean them the next day.