Israel law to exempt ultra-Orthodox Jews from army will cause mass protests, analyst warns

Israel’s Haaretz newspaper warned against the consequences of passing the new recruitment law which relieves Haredi Jews from military service in the Israeli Occupation army, stressing that it would be the last nail in the army’s coffin.

The newspaper explained in a report by Israeli expert, Amos Harel, that the right-wing government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu, currently leading Israel, “still seems determined to keep dissent and the protest movement alive. The excuse du jour is the new draft law – which should be called the Haredi Draft-Dodging Law – which Netanyahu hopes to pass under pressure from Haredi parties.”

The report noted that “the law will cause two self-manufactured headaches for the government. First, it will perpetuate existing inequality in carrying the burden of military service. Second, as Haredim seek to secure the new law by passing the override clause, they will drag the judicial overhaul legislation right back to the centre of public discourse.”

Harel noted that the far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties that participated in the formation of Netanyahu’s government “each pair came with a far-reaching set of demands, unacceptable to large parts of the Israeli public and possibly troubling to many Likud voters.”

“The draft issue has been dragged out for decades, with the High Court demanding the State to make up its mind, but Haredi leaders being preoccupied with protecting their voters from the dangers of serving, like everyone else. In exchange for joining his current coalition, Netanyahu committed to passing a new law eliminating the draft for the Haredi public and the financial sanctions against educational facilities that aid in draft-dodging. Concurrently, Haredim are trying to promote a law guaranteeing Torah students equal status and benefits to that of IDF soldiers,” added Harel.

READ: Israel sacks commander who failed to arrest a wanted man in Jenin