Israel is the homeland of technological innovation, but also the country where they reside the most haredim, the ultra-orthodox Jews for whom smart phones and the unbridled use of the web are blasphemous taboos, for their ability to put you in excessive and constant contact with the secular world. So blasphemous as to be banned and sometimes publicly harmed, as when in 2012 a rabbi hacked an iPhone that had just been released in front of witnesses.
The solution? The Israeli mobile phone company came up with it Rami Levy Communications, which has just marketed a brand new smartphone, capable of uniting "technology and innovation with the need not to compromise on spiritual values", as invoked by the fundamentalists of the religious cult.
The new product, at this point definable 100% kosher, is nothing more than a Nexus 4 with a modified version of Android, without an internet connection, unable to hook it up via other wi-fi and without the Google Play application store. “We sell a Google phone, but without Google”, the paradox explained by Ramu Levy's own CEO, Shlomi Gulian.
So what's the point of having a smartphone? In Israel they have thought of everything: the jewel built ad hoc will have the possibility of using it in complete freedom, thanks to the consent of a committee of rabbis, the Afik Store, a platform of over 700 applications approved by the leaders of the Orthodox community.
The permitted apps range from classic services to online banking to some "pious" programs, such as the daily study of a text from the Talmud or collections of religious songs. However, the new smartphone does not give up the needs of those who, in addition to the needs of worship, also have an intense working life: it therefore allows you to send text messages and emails.
And for those wondering how much such a niche market is worth, the answer is that the active Haredim, although absolutely a minority among the Israeli population, are however more numerous every year: the ultra-Orthodox represent 9% of the 8 million Israeli citizens, or just under 800 potential customers.
Rami Levy therefore hopes to sell 50 units of his new smartphone in the first year of marketing, but doubts remain about the price. The telephone company would like to convince customers by setting prices between 1.500 and 1.900 shekels (322-395 euros at current exchange rates): under these conditions, according to many merchants in Jerusalem, "the kosher cell phone won't break through: religious people are usually not particularly rich, and they always look for the cheapest products".
Read the news on Le Monde
