Netanyahu government under threat over military exemption for ultra-orthodox Jews
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Benjamin Netanyahu is facing the gravest threat to his government since Oct 7 amid a cabinet rebellion over the exemption of ultra-orthodox Jews from military service.
Ministers are due to meet on Monday evening to discuss the final draft of a Bill that continues to allow the so-called Haredim to avoid being called up to the IDF.
Israel has permitted the Haredim to focus on their religious studies rather than do national service since the foundation of the state in 1948, but there is growing criticism of their protected status as tens of thousands of citizens are called up to fight the war in Gaza.
On Sunday, Yoav Gallant, Israel’s defence minister, said he would not back a Bill that enshrines the Haredim’s right to avoid service. He urged hardline religious coalition members to be more “flexible” on the issue.
“I will not be party to any proposal that is not agreed upon by all coalition factions – under my leadership, the security system will not submit it for legislation,” he said before leaving for the US on his first foreign trip since the start of the conflict last year.
Benny Gantz, Israel’s most popular politician and a member of the war cabinet, also threatened to leave the government if the Bill is passed. He has long called for a new conscription law that would see all members of Israeli society, including Haredim and Arab citizens, compelled to serve in either military or civic fields.
Mr Netanyahu’s coalition government has a slim majority and could collapse if enough members quit over the Bill.
The increasingly influential Haredi community staunchly opposes conscription, insisting that military service endangers their way of life built on studying the Torah.
In a last-minute attempt to save the Bill on Monday, Mr Netanyahu, who relies on Haredi parties to shore up his government, agreed to remove a clause raising the exemption age from 26 to 35, Israeli media reported.
This would have made it more bureaucratically complicated for Haredim to avoid service as they are required to get one-year deferrals it every year until they age out at 26.
The move came after Israel’s attorney general warned at the weekend that the current exemptions framework has been repeatedly ruled illegal by Israeli courts.
A new proposal that would also be likely to set enlistment goals for Haredim is to be offered to the cabinet later on Tuesday, according to the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.
Despite pressure from liberal members of his cabinet, Mr Netanyahu’s Bill does not include draft quotas for ultra-orthodox men or criminal liability for draft dodgers. If approved by the cabinet, it is likely to take a couple of more months before the Knesset considers it and possibly votes it into law.
On Monday, Israeli politicians from across the political spectrum, barring the ultra-orthodox, blasted Mr Netanyahu’s exemption U-turn as a “moral disgrace” and “draft-dodging” amidst the country’s most devastating war in a generation.
A group bringing together special ops veterans issued a statement on Sunday, warning that if the “scandalous draft-dodgers’ Bill” is passed, it “will be a final breach of contract between the state and us”.
Brothers in Arms, a protest group composed of IDF reservists, condemned the Bill as undermining Israel as a secular state.
“If the government passes the law, every Zionist Israeli who worries for the future of the homeland, must take to the streets,” the group said in a statement, accusing the prime minister of trading secular values for his political survival.
A member of parliament from what is now Israel’s most popular political party condemned Mr Netanyahu’s Bill as a slap in the face for Israeli soldiers risking their lives in Gaza.
Matan Kahana, of the National Unity Party, told the Kan radio station on Monday: “How is it even possible to put forward a bill that is so divorced from reality and to keep sending soldiers into battle?” He called the proposal a “moral disgrace”.
Prominent Haredim leaders have rebelled against the idea of enlisting members of their community, with one prominent rabbi suggesting ultra-orthodox men would rather flee Israel than join the army.
