Gallant calls for urgent meeting to extend mandatory military service

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Israeli media
21 Jun 2024 07:42
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Israeli Security Minister Yoav Gallant emphasizes that the new security reality necessitates finding means to continue the war effort.

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Israeli Security Minister Yoav Gallant pauses while making a brief statement to the media on October 16, 2023, in Tel Aviv, 'Israel'. (AP)

Israeli Security Minister Yoav Gallant has requested Israeli occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to schedule an urgent meeting to discuss the possibility of extending mandatory military service to three years and to approve this in the government in the coming days, according to the Israeli channel Makan.

Gallant emphasized that the new security reality necessitates finding means to continue the war effort.

It is noted that some ministers oppose this move, while the government is enacting a law to exempt Haredim from military service.

Knesset revives ultra-Orthodox enlistment bill amid internal rifts

The internal rift continues to grow in "Israel" as lawmakers voted 63-57 to proceed with a bill from the previous Knesset concerning the drafting of ultra-Orthodox Haredi students, reviving the controversial legislation amid the ongoing war on Gaza.

The vote was to resume the legislative process from where it had previously left off, without starting anew in the current session. The legislation will now proceed to the "Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee" for the second and third readings required for the bill to pass.

If eventually passed, the bill would lower the exemption age of mandatory service for Haredi yeshiva students from 26 to 21 and gradually increase the rate of ultra-Orthodox conscription.

Although several coalition members opposed the measure, Gallant of Likud was the only one who ultimately voted against it. He left the assembly hall shortly after casting his vote.

“The people of Israel long for agreements – national changes are carried out with broad agreement,” Gallant later said in a post on X. “We must not engage in petty politics at the expense of IDF soldiers.”

Opposition figure Yair Lapid sharply criticized the coalition over the vote, denouncing it as “one of the most despicable moments of humiliation of the Israeli Knesset ever.”

In a statement, Lapid said, "In the midst of another day of hard fighting in the Gaza Strip, the reckless government passes a law of evasion and insubordination. It’s all politics. Zero values."