In the first repercussions of the Israeli Knesset’s approval of the law exempting religious Jews (Haredim) from conscription into the Israeli occupation army, the Hebrew newspaper Haaretz reported that hundreds of families of Israeli soldiers informed Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant and Army Chief of Staff Herzi Halevy that they are calling on their children to lay down their arms “immediately” and stop… Fight and return to their homes.
A letter sent by the families to Galant and Halevy criticized the Knesset’s decision to approve the law that exempts the Haredim from serving in the army. According to the newspaper, the families wrote that “they no longer support the fighting in Gaza,” and the families added, “It is unreasonable for a law like this to be passed while brave soldiers sacrifice their lives,” according to the letter.
The families accused the government of “betraying its citizens and sparing the lives of our children, but for the sake of political survival it keeps the lives of others safe.”
Yesterday, Monday, the Knesset approved, by a majority of 63 members against 57 against, the draft conscription law on the first reading, and a second and third reading must still be voted on on the draft law in order for it to become a final law.
Violation of equality
Since 2017, successive governments have failed to reach a consensus law regarding Haredi recruitment, after the Supreme Court annulled a law enacted in 2015 that exempted them from military service, considering that the exemption violates the “principle of equality.”
Since then, the Knesset has continued to extend their exemption from military service, and at the end of last March, an order issued by the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to postpone the implementation of compulsory conscription for the Haredim expired.
Last February, the Supreme Court issued an order demanding that the government explain the reason for not recruiting Haredim.
Religious Jews make up about 13% of Israel’s population of approximately 9.7 million people. They do not serve in the army, and say they devote their lives to studying the Torah.
The law requires every Israeli male and female over the age of 18 to serve in the military, and the exclusion of the Haredim from service has always sparked controversy over the past decades.
However, their failure to serve in the military in conjunction with the aggression on the Gaza Strip, the continuation of the war since last October 7, and the losses of the Israeli army increased the intensity of the controversy, as secular parties demanded that religious people participate in bearing the burdens of the war.