Jerusalem – Thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews demonstrated in Jerusalem on Tuesday over military service in one of several protests following the recent detention of a rabbi’s son who refused to report to a draft office.
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Military service is mandatory for Jews in Israel, but ultra-Orthodox leaders say their communities serve the Jewish nation through religious study and prayer, and fear integration into the army would threaten their insular, pious lifestyle.
Draft exemptions are granted to young ultra-Orthodox men who declare their values at a recruitment center. Those refusing to report to a draft office can be detained.
Draft privileges go back to when Israel’s founders granted exemptions to a few hundred gifted students to help rebuild the great schools of Jewish learning destroyed in the Holocaust. But numbers have ballooned dramatically since then.
Josef Berger a 26-year-old protester, told The Associated Press his community wants to continue “the way of life we lived the last 2,000 years.”
“They say it’s for security reasons and they need more people in the army, but the real reason is they want to change us,” he said.
Protestor’s waved banners reading: “don’t force religious Jews into the army.”
Exemptions have bred resentment among Israel’s secular majority, whose children mostly serve after high-school.
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Wait,
What happened to Women of the Wall ??
Is this le shem shomiym or to see who is the boss in israel?Who can get the most yeshiva boys to demonstrate is the winner. They have closed their books to demonstrate that they are serious students,
What is the issue with just reporting to the conscription office and getting an exemption?? Is it that bad a trip?
If the manpower of the IDF was limited to 1% of its current size, and if missiles were coming in from Gaza, would the IDF not be able to protect its citizens? In five minutes the missiles would be stopped if I were in charge of the weapons in the hands of the IDF. Soldiers were sent in on foot for three main reasons:
1. To protect the enemy
2. To enable the government to have social control of its own citizens by employing them in the IDF
3. To test out weapons and tactical warfare, the results being shared with the US.
The are absolutely correct, Hamas will protect all chareidis
> “the way of life we lived the last 2,000 years.”
Let’s see what the reality was in the literal sense of the words. The first few decades starting 2,000 years ago experienced no less than three major very physical wars with Jewish physical soldiers against the Romans. The death and destruction from that we mourn to this day. Perhaps he wants the Crusades to return? Or the expulsion from Spain? Or the Chmelnitsky massacres? So is that the life he wants to remember? Just what period in the past 2,000 years was the least bit better than the current period? What fantasy world are they imagining? Reminds me of the Jews who left Egypt. There were those who wanted to return because it was just so much better as slaves in Egypt.
The Zionists will never prevail in getting these Torah emes people to report to their atheist churning machine. The Zionists specifically don’t want Israeli Arabs to serve because they know they cant take them away from Islam. The Zionists will soon be limited to less than half the population as the chareidim and Arabs will make up 50% of the population.
Where in the Torah and the Neviim does it say that no man may serve in the army? I believe scriptures are replete with tales of war that were fought by our people. What is wrong with these people? Will the madness never end?!
The United States of America never drafted ultra-Orthodox Jews, during the years, that the draft was in existence. Even during World War Two, no such inductions took place. Therefore, if it wasn’t done here, why should it be done there? Isn’t the draft comparable with involuntary servitude? Instead of the Chareidim being made to serve in uniform, they should be made to serve in community service positions, such as assisting less fortunate citizens, working as volunteers in hospitals, or serving as civilians members of the armed forces.
What a sorry lot of Jews who allow their brothers to die in their place. They are the worst of our people wearing their Polish coats of 200 years ago and their silly fur hats. Someday, maybe a courageous rebbe will lead them out of their darkness and they can join the gallant religious Jews who learn, work, and defend.