Israel Matzav

Did Lapid win the battle and lose the war?

Yair Lapid spent a lot of time on Wednesday bragging about how he succeeded in imposing criminal sanctions on Haredi 'draft dodgers.' But in the end, he may not have really succeeded. While the sanctions are part of the bill, the person who gets to decide them is Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon, who opposed them (Hat Tip: Eliana).

Ya'alon said that he believed that the automatic imposition of criminal sanctions without any discretion was a "serious mistake that would only hold back the process" of integration of haredim and Arabs into the army and the public service.

The Minister of Defense wrote that he was happy that his position was accepted by the Committee on the issue of imposition of criminal sanctions which would leave for the minister of defense the ability to decide on the appropriate handling of individuals or groups who do not get drafted. 

Ya'alon's request that was accepted by the Peri Committee was that the intervening period when criminal sanctions would not be levied on draft dodgers would be increased from three years to four years, Israel Radio reported.

Of course, the problem will arise when someone other than Yaalon is Defense Minister.... 

Labels: draft, Haredim, IDF

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:49 PM