Knesset revives ultra-Orthodox enlistment bill amid internal rifts

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Israeli media
11 Jun 2024 11:49

The Israeli opposition criticizes the coalition for pushing forward the measure and condemns the occupation government for endorsing military service exemptions.

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Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men and youth raise placards during a protest against Israeli army conscription outside an army recruitment office in al-Quds on April 11, 2024. (AFP)

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, Israeli Security Minister Yoav 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 official 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."

The big picture

Tuesday's vote occurred amid a heated public and legal discourse surrounding the issue of blanket exemptions for ultra-Orthodox individuals from military conscription. Concurrently, the High Court of Justice is reviewing numerous petitions urging the immediate drafting of young Haredi men.

For decades, ultra-Orthodox men of military age have avoided Israeli army conscription by enrolling in yeshivas for Torah study and obtaining repeated one-year service deferrals until reaching the age of exemption. In 2017, the High Court ruled such mass exemptions illegal and discriminatory. Subsequent occupation governments have attempted without success to devise new legislation to address the issue while seeking repeated deferrals from the court.

Dive deeper

Netanyahu has insisted on presenting the law since last month, despite the opinion of the government's legal advisor, Gali Baharav Miara, that there are legal obstacles to proceeding with it.

Baharav Miara considered the proposal unsuitable for the current reality and has not met the requests and needs of the security establishment and the Israeli army since the beginning of the current war on Gaza.

The issue of lifting some of the restrictions imposed on the conscription of the Haredim in the occupation army has been a contentious issue for decades in an entity where military service is widely regarded as a cornerstone of its security.

This issue, which has angered many secular Israelis, has become more sensitive than ever since the beginning of the war on Gaza.

The Haredim constitute about 13% of the Israeli settler communities and do not serve in the Israeli army, claiming to dedicate their lives to the study of the Torah.

Jewish religious leaders and ultra-Orthodox parties reject enlistment in the army, believing that they play an important role in protecting "Israel" through their religious role and their continuous prayers and supplications and that their fighting will lead to the destruction of "Israel".