Israel Matzav

They'd rather draft women than Haredim

Some of you may be wondering how we got into a situation where men who are studying in yeshiva are exempt from the draft. I'm going to tell you.

Shortly after the State was established, the first Prime Minister, David Ben Gurion, met with Rabbi Avraham Yeshaya Korelitz, known as the Chazon Ish. They worked out something that is known as the 'status quo' agreement, which says that no party will take any action to change the status quo on religion and state from what it was at that time. Rabbi Korelitz and Ben Gurion discussed the draft at the time. Rabbi Korelitz offered to send all (or nearly all) the yeshiva boys to the IDF if the IDF would stop drafting women. Believing that religious Judaism would be gone from the State of Israel within a generation, Ben Gurion decided that it wasn't worth ruining his plans for the IDF by agreeing not to draft women. And so he turned down Rabbi Korelitz's offer. At the time, Israel was the only country in the world that drafted women, and there were approximately 400 men learning in yeshivas in Israel. Today, there are more men learning in yeshivas in Israel than at any time in history....

Most Israelis, more than 60 years later, agree with Ben Gurion, that it's more important to keep women in the IDF than to draft Haredim.

Telephone poll of a representative sample of 500 Hebrew speaking adult Israeli Jews carried out by New Wave for Yisrael Hayom on 19 June and published on 22 June 2012.

Should the drafting of ultra orthodox be increased even at the expense of hurting equality of women in the IDF?
Yes 36.1% No 42.7% Don't know 21.2%

Hmmm.

Labels: Haredim, IDF, Nachal Charedi

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 5:06 AM