Jerusalem – Israeli Official Vows To End Draft Exemptions For Charedim

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    Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Danny Ayalon  Jerusalem – Israel’s deputy foreign minister says that if the country’s new hawkish bloc forms the next government, it will do away with a contentious system of draft exemptions for ultra-Orthodox men.

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    Danny Ayalon said Wednesday the outgoing government failed to meet a Supreme Court order to abolish the exemptions because of objections by the ultra-Orthodox Shas Party.

    Ayalon says the situation has changed after Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beitenu party joined forces with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud.

    Ayalon says Shas will have to agree to a universal draft, otherwise, “they won’t be part of the government.”

    Shas wants to keep the current system, which allows ultra-Orthodox males to skip compulsory army service to pursue religious studies.

    New elections are scheduled Jan. 22.


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    16 Comments
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    berelw
    berelw
    11 years ago

    about time…

    PaulinSaudi
    PaulinSaudi
    11 years ago

    A critical moment, a turning point. Who will be in charge, the religious community or the state?

    maersk
    maersk
    11 years ago

    Sweet dreams danny boy…it aint gonna happen…….

    my4amos
    my4amos
    11 years ago

    I said it before and will say it again: real Torah Jews will not serve. Period. Of course, to satisfy the anti-Torah public, the authorities will point to a number of allegedly religious zionists and modern pretend orthodox and claim that chareidim do serve. But we will not.

    proud-mo-israeli
    proud-mo-israeli
    11 years ago

    alterg, shmuelg & maerskg, get it into your heads….party’s over & its time to serve like all the other Yidden in Tzahal

    berelw
    berelw
    11 years ago

    so to all you guys whom say charadim wont serve…so whom will protect the land? kugel, cholent…lets face it today us charaiidm are a big percentage of the population…we need ti chip in…its not just a few yeshivas anymore….why is our blood better then other yidden’s blood….lets look out of the box for once.

    Loberstein
    Loberstein
    11 years ago

    Number 5 says some unfortunate things about the soldiers in the Nachal Chareidi, that they are pretend orthodox. Sir: You are mistaken. My son is in Kfir and he is part of the frum section of the army.They daven , have shiurim ,get glatt kosher food and do not mix with women. My son is trained to carry a grenade launcher and his entire frum unit is now in the Golan getting ready for whatever may happen.

    Erlich
    Erlich
    11 years ago

    In order to be a soldier, you have to be physically fit. The yeshiva bochrim wear glasses, can’t do the minimum number of push-ups, chin-ups and sit-ups. Drafting these yungerleit in the army would be a liability, indeed a sakana, for others in the IDF. And we’re not even talking about the tough requirements to become Israel’s equivalent of the U.S. Navy SEALs.

    CanadianGuy
    CanadianGuy
    11 years ago

    I am a baal teshuva, but wouldn’t the views of the gedolim be relevant in responding to this story? The comments here address military “service” without considering that this service can involve different approaches. If you want to draft a holy boy, shouldn’t you let his teachers define how he is to perform? Or must we abandon him to just any military commander / system? Maybe what we need is giving and taking. Yes, the holy one needs to pitch in, but his environment will meet the requirements of his teachers. These students after all aren’t just dodging the draft – they are trying to accomplish something idealistic, and pushing off a lot of fun things too.

    Yawvous
    Yawvous
    11 years ago

    This debate keeps going on and on-it’s ridiculous and childish. The bottom line will be: if the Gedolei Yisroel will command the religious youth to be enscripted into military forces, they will then go. ANd if they tell them to refrain, then they will do so. All of these hot-head remarks are useless. People in religious communities don’t do things on their own.- they confer with their leaders.A religious youth will not commit his safety to the command of an army superior who is non religious and a gluttonous example for him.

    CheeseMan
    CheeseMan
    11 years ago

    Why can’t there be a compromise? only the best of the best continue to learn, allow the yeshivas to pick the best 5%. And guarantee the rest all they need to keep halacha.

    ThomMcCann
    ThomMcCann
    11 years ago

    A soldier does not fight a battle with just a rifle in his hands and hand grenades attached to his belt. He fights with a group of men who in turn are supported by airplanes, howitzers, anti-aircraft missiles and other armament.

    Hundreds of miles away there are many more supporters who do not fight at the front but are just as necessary; ammunition manufacturers, cooks, uniform suppliers, etc.

    With this knowledge of thousands backing him a soldier has full confidence of his success in battle. That bravery helps assure victory on the battlefield.

    More important, a secular or religious soldier’s spirit depends on the Charedim whose merit in studying Talmud and strict adherence to God’s law his life may hang on.

    It is a self-defeating to force the Charedim into army service. The backbone of belief in them holds the future of any success as it has done since Judaism came into being.

    It is a major flaw in believing that taking Charedim out of their yeshivas will aid the army as it is in allowing any victory to the enemies of Israel.