Jerusalem – The Yesh Atid party, along with the Union of Israeli Students, will file a petition to the High Court of Justice on Tuesday against theamendment approved by the Knesset Monday night which gives the defense minister sweeping powers to exempt haredi yeshiva students from military service.
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The amendment was passed late on Monday night with 49 MKs voting in favor and 36 voting against, while Likud MK Yoav Kisch, a former draft equality activist, absented himself from the vote following the defeat of changes he proposed to the bill, while Kulanu MK Meirav Ben-Ari also absented herself from the vote.
Likud MK Sharren Haskel found an MK in the opposition to offset her own absence, a step she took since changes she proposed were also defeated.
On Tuesday morning, Kisch was suspended from his membership of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee until further notice by coalition chairman MK Tzahi Hanegbi, who is also chairman of the committee, due to Kisch’s failure to vote for the bill
The amendment passed on Monday night postpones the implementation of obligatory enlistment on full-time yeshiva students, which was supposed to come into effect in 2017, until 2020, after which the Defense Minister will have the authority to exempt yeshiva students from military or civilian service if he so wishes, “while bearing in mind” targets established by the government.
Such exemptions can be given until the age of 26 at which point the yeshiva students will receive a final exemption from military service.
The petition is likely to point to the lack of defined targets for haredi enlistment, which will be determined after 2020 by the government in accordance with the recommendations of the defense minister, as well as the absence of any criteria by which the defense minister will make those recommendations and the lack of criteria for exempting yeshiva students if targets are not met.
“The explanation of the prime minister of Israel, of Bayit Yehudi chairman Naftali Bennett and of [Defense Minister] Moshe Ya’alon for the vote today cancelling this law is that they have no values,” said Yesh Atid chairman MK Yair Lapid.
“They claim that in the previous Knesset Yesh Atid forced them to pass a draft equality law and in this Knesset the haredi parties forced them to cancel draft equality.”
Said Yesh Atid faction chairman MK Ofer Shelach “I admit, I have learned a lesson. I need to love my children and only them. There is no societal solidarity, there are no common values, there isn’t even equality before the law. And a child of someone else loses three years of his life, and even perhaps his life itself. And for this lesson I thank the haredi lords and their slave who is known as the prime minister.”
Doesnt make any different not the pettition in court nieter the law past yestrday, Mark my words “Jews will NEVER Gane serve in the tumna IDF” all yeshivas will stay wide open till museac comes, they trying already 65 years & nothing, so nothing to be worried.
To #1
Try learning some English before posting.
One is not supposed to say loshon hora about oneself and the poor English skills demonstrated reflects very poorly on you and whatever education (or lack of such) that you have.