Jerusalem – Ultra-Orthodox parties inside Israel’s government say they will oppose any new law that would apply Israel’s compulsory military draft to ultra-Orthodox men — a stance that bodes ill for the stability of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling coalition.
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Last week, Israel’s Supreme Court overturned a law that has helped tens of thousands of religious men avoid military service and pursue state-sponsored religious studies instead. The privilege has created widespread resentment among Israel’s secular majority and encouraged ultra-Orthodox men to become lifelong students, reducing their large families to living off state handouts.
With a July deadline looming, Netanyahu is now racing to find a new formula acceptable to the court and his coalition.
Netanyahu has promised to replace the so-called Tal Law with legislation that would allow “a much more equal sharing of the burden.” If no new law is on the books by the time the old one expires on July 31, universal conscription will presumably go into effect.
Depending on both ultra-Orthodox and fiercely secular parties in his government, Netanyahu faces a difficult task drawing up a new system.
In a rare show of unity, rival ultra-Orthodox parties met Sunday night to join ranks against any modifications that would expose their constituents to the draft. Israeli males perform three years of compulsory military service beginning at age 18.
Ultra-Orthodox religious leaders believe their followers must spend their days studying holy texts.
“We have no existence without Torah,” the Haaretz newspaper quoted United Torah Judaism party lawmaker Moshe Gafni as saying, referring to the first five books of the Jewish bible. “We will give our lives for it.”
Although Netanyahu’s coalition partners have stopped short of threatening to bolt, the court decision has threatened to shake up the prime minister’s government by forcing him to choose sides in this enormously divisive issue.
His foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman of the secular Yisrael Beitenu Party, said Tuesday he would not agree to extend the old law. “Not by a day, and not even an hour,” said Lieberman, a critic of the religious exemptions.
While Israel’s secular public has welcomed the prospect of ending the draft exemptions for the religious, actually conscripting them will be a difficult task.
The exemption, drawn up six decades ago to allow 400 exemplary seminary students to continue their studies, has ballooned to the point that tens of thousands of young men are now able to avoid the draft. Absorbing such a large number of conscripts, most of whom have few skills in the secular world, will be a challenge for the military.
Yohanan Plesner, a lawmaker who has chaired a subcommittee studying the matter, said Tuesday that the old law expires on July 31 and without new legislation, universal conscription would go into effect.
“That’s not realistic or practical,” he said. “The military is not prepared for it … A different agreement must be made,” said Plesner, a member of the opposition Kadima Party.
He vowed to prevent a new formula to allow mass draft dodging. “There should be no Tal Law Part 2,” he said.
Good. The Israel gov is not accommodating them and is constantly out to get them and besmirch them…..now they’ll see what the price for their policies is.
shame on them they are showing their true colors, we will not give anything to the country we live in, the country will only give to us.
amazing all their learning did not teach them how to be a responsible citizen, or people. I guess they missed the parts in the Torah when Jews actually went out and fought, and did not sit in kollel instead of fighting
If they still refuse to serve, take away their citizenship priviledges, i.e.voting rights. If they don’t recognize the authority of State, why give them any rights afforded to regular citizens?
If they don’t want to serve in the army they must perform some type of compulsory service including sanitation pick up and helping elderly men.
Obviously, the compromise will have to involve some form of public service working in schools, hospitals or helping to build and maintain public facilities. There is no possible argument against having healthy boys and girls spend a year or two doing manual labor that would help the tzibur without having any issues of violating halacha that might arise in the IDF. Without mincing words, you can have a gang of frum guys digging foundations for new schools, cleaning school buildings, etc. without any issues of kashruth or kol isha. It would also put to the test the suspicion among many that they are using halacha as an excuse to shift the burden of public service on others.
The Tal law is only 15 years old, whereas the yeshiva exemption has been in place since 1948. The IDF will simply go back to its original policy of making an administrative decision not to draft chareidim.
Is Israel Mitzrayim? Is Natanyahu PAROIY?
Why taucher Yidden to work for Yidden
THEESE ULTRAS HAD IT TOO GOOD THEY DIDNT APPRECIATE WHAT THEY HAD THE REBELD NOT THEY WILL GET A DOSE OF REALITY.
The entire haredi Zionist parsha is sickening, absolutely sickening. They don’t want to be in the army for the state that they want to be preserved, but they want others who they always blab about in terms of kiruv to be the ones to put their necks on the line for the medinah. These “haredim” are nuts. They expect to be able to live under the Zionists, ENJOY every possible benefit the medinah has to offer, and give nothing in return with risking their lives. Since when the blood of certain Jews MORE RED THAN THAT OF OTHERS?
They blab all the time about the medinah and fighting Palestinians and Iran, but they want it to be on someone else’s cheshbon. SICKENING, ABSOLUTELY SICKENING.
What kind of Yiddishkeit is this, and what kind of rabbinical leadership do they have?!
just remember, when you write about “charedim” in this article, you mean thousands of people, which includes chassidim, litvaks, sefardim, mizrachim, of many ages, groups & levels, this is an issue that actually unites all sections of shomrei torah mitzvos living in eretz yisroel, so all of you who are sitting in the usa without any worry, please stop getting involved with so much hate!
An 18 year old frum bachur belongs at the gemarah defending the country with his torah not being forced to take the job of Easov and fight with arms.
Remember “Aileh borechev veaileh basusim vanachnu beshaim hashem nazkir” and this way we will protect the state of Israel.
The level of hatred against the Haredim is shocking. I don’t know of any other group where it is apparently acceptable to publicly such hatred as it is with the Haredim.
Specifically with regard to the draft it is worth noting that were the IDF really interested in having Haredim they would make dramatic changes in how they treat the Haredim
It is also worth noting that increasing numbers of chilonim are avoiding the draft.
Hareidim should serve, and the IDF should accommodate them.
But as long as arabs don’t serve, i have no problem with the status quo.
No Army service ( or other military service) no money Work and support
the family No more handouts Be self sufficient and live in your own world
Draft the Arabs first, they are really, really good at fighting each other.
In the Torah, Yehoshua, the number one student in Moshe’s class, and the carrier of the mesora, was told to serve in the front lines for B’nei Yisroel to have any chance of winning — no yeshiva exemption for him. But that has no impact on the chareidim of today, who cannot serve in the army because they are too pre-occupied with their battle against 8-year old girls..
The money line:
“We have no existence without Torah,” the Haaretz newspaper quoted United Torah Judaism party lawmaker Moshe Gafni as saying, referring to the first five books of the Jewish bible. “We will give our lives for it.”
Ya… the only ones giving their lives right now would be those other kids who are IN THE ARMY.
God, the irony…
the only reason why the israeli government is considering drafting
charedim is because they are wasting billions of dollars of the states money and are not contributing anything to the society.
now being that the government of israel is run by goyisher seichal
they want to draft yiden into an army (something which all our gedolim for the past 150 years fought against).
but someone who has yidisher seichel like the satmar rebbe
told us not to take a penny from the government
and if all the jewish institutions would have listened to him
two things would have been different
1.the israeli government would not have spent billions of dollars on chareidim
2. the israeli government would extend the tal law
since there would be no complaints of people wasting the states money
Rather arrogant to think your learning is of such a high level that it is enough to protect the yiddin without an army, totally against derech hatevah.
The learning in pre – war Europe was certainly of a much higher caliber yet without any armed forces to protect them too the learning does not seem to have saved six million yiddin.
What went wrong? Perhaps if today’s ‘chareidim’ had been around they could have explained da’as torah to the Nazis and they would have gone back towhere chugging beer and fressing knockwurst and left the yiddin alive.
For all you satmars with your crazy words “medina” “tziyonim”, please stop already! On every topic about israel???
You are not convincing anyone here!!!
Evreyone has there gedolim that said it was usser to take israel for a land, but its still a mitzveh to live there, and do everything to be able to live there.
I think you should all move to iran, you share the same agenda to wipe israel off the map, rather to be here and talking about the muslim obama, i thought you will rather go with raun paul, he will go with your plans better.
The chareidi draft dodgers and their advocates are simply parasites. Their Torah learning does not protect anyone, let alone save the world.
To all of the Haredi bashers: I’m curious to know how many of you have served in the armed forces of your respective countries, especially in the armed forces of the United States? If you haven’t served in uniform, then you have no right bashing the Haredim for refusing to serve in the IDF.
Who are all these “holier than thou” people? If all of them are really sitting and learning, then why are the streets of Geula and Meah Shearim always filled with young men? And why should they be exempt??? Are they better than Dovid Hamelech?? He went to war most of his life. I agree with certain things, like if he is a ben yochid, or has 6 children or more, if he just got married, or built a new house (where would they get the money from if they don’t work either) or just planted a vineyard. These last few are told to us in the Torah that it would make someone exempt. I am so sick of this and the sikrikim. How can so few make such a chilul Hashem like they are? They are in the same class of people who have to Iran and kissed Ahmedinajad –they will all burn for putting the life of their brethren in danger.