Vishnitzer Rebbe instructs followers not to report for draft
Until now, all Haredim have been reporting for the initial screening at the IDF draft headquarters with the exception of followers of Rabbi Shmuel Auerbach. And it has been the followers of Rabbi Auerbach who have been arrested. If all the Haredim en masse were to refuse to even show up for the draft - a tactic that was discussed and deferred shortly after the 'equalization of the burden' law was passed - the government would be left in the untenable position of mass disobedience of the law, and not enough jail cells to hold those who refuse to register.
"People are walking around in a state of embarrassment and confusion,
there are harsh and terrible decrees here in Israel on military
affairs," the rabbi wrote.
"They send letters to come and report to the recruitment bureau, and
if one fails to report – they threaten to jail him,” he added. "People
receive letters – the first summons, the second summons, the third
summons – and it says that their child must report, and
they do not know what will happen, and start to think – 'here come the
police to take our son into custody.'"
"So the first thing is not to panic, and to trust the Creator... do
not pay any attention to all the letters that arrive from them," he
counseled. "Parents should treat the order as if it is just some kind of
note, and ignore all letters from the army. Of course, as I have said,
you must increase Torah study, and thus the decrees will be cancelled."
Despite the recent changes in legislation regarding hareidi military
service, the three councils of hareidi Torah sages have not changed
their longstanding decisions regarding service. This means that the
haredi public has continued to report to the first summons, except for a
faction of the followers of Rabbi Auerbach who ignore the summons.
The real question is how many more will follow. The more Haredi leaders who tell their followers not to report, the greater the chance for a mass insurrection. One can only look on with amazement at the fact that the Knesset did not anticipate this.
Haredi national service enlistment hits lowest point since December 2008
Only 29 Haredim enlisted in national service during the month of March according to this report on YNet (which has been printed out and hung up as a giant poster in some Haredi neighborhoods). That's the lowest monthly enlistment number since December 2008 (link in Hebrew).
According to the article, 108 Haredim enlisted for national service in February (which was already a decline), which means that the month-to-month decline from February to March was 73%.
The article goes on to report on the trend of Haredi leaders subscribing to 'extremism' in which all Haredi boys will be told not to report at all to IDF recruitment centers. If that were to happen and the boys were to listen (which they likely would), the IDF and the police would be faced with a Hobson's choice of arresting thousands of AWOL draft-age boys, or admitting that they cannot enforce the law.
According to the article, the 'extremists' are seeking another joint meeting of the three branches of the Haredi leadership (Lithuanian, Sephardi and Hassidic), with a view toward calling for all Haredi boys not to appear at the recruitment centers, while the 'moderate' camp (or so YNet claims) is trying to defer such a meeting.
Last week, a Haredi boy who had been arrested for not appearing at a recruitment center was released, causing a mass nighttime celebration in the center of the city.
There are wall posters in all of the Haredi neighborhoods in Jerusalem, which call on the boys to go to jail rather than the army. At the demonstration, there were signs that said "come and get me at 3:00 am also" - a reference to the military police method of operation of searching 'missing' boys' family homes at 3:00 am in order to harass the family. To date, the police have yet to appear at any yeshiva, and since the Tal law was canceled, the boys are no longer obligated to notify the IDF once every six months where they are studying.
Waiting for the other shoe to drop: Haredi civilian service enlistement dropped 70% in months leading to February
In the months leading up to the passage of the 'equal burden' law, Haredi enlistment in civilian service alternatives to the army dropped 70% compared with previous levels.
Speaking to Kol Barama haredi radio station on Wednesday, director of
the Civil Service Administration Sar-Shalom Gerbi said that numbers of
haredi men enlisting to the program had dropped from an average of
between 70 to100 a month to around 30 a month in the period leading up
to February 2014.
Extremist elements in the haredi community have conducted an
aggressive campaign against haredi men who perform any form of national
service, military or civilian, and have labelled such people “hardakim,”
meaning a weak minded haredi person.
The general haredi community has also expressed anger at the terms of the new conscription law,
which has been framed as an attack on the community, and led to
protestations against service by even more moderate elements who did not
oppose it in the past.
“People are embarrassed to come and enlist
for the Civilian Service [program] in light of friction that has been
created because of the conscription law,” Gerbi said, describing the
decrease in enlistment as “dramatic.”
The Civilian Service program
is a key component of the new law for haredi conscription that was
approved by the Knesset earlier this month.
The 'hardakim' campaign - which started as a campaign in the Haredi neighborhoods against cellular phones with internet connections and has been going on for quite a while - has clearly been appropriated as a campaign against both army and civilian service. Gerbi adds:
Gerbi said however that he believed that the numbers of conscripts would
begin to rise again once the immediate tensions and discord surrounding
the passage of the law dissipates.
That may be the case with respect to civilian service, but with respect to serving in the army, which requires wearing a uniform on the way to and from the base, that is far less likely to happen and will take much longer.
We have not yet been told that there's been a drastic decline in Haredi enlistment in the IDF as a result of the new law, but that is clearly the case.
IDF decides to forget about separate Haredi recruitment center... for now
Facing threats of mass desertion, the IDF has dropped - for now - a plan that would have separated Haredi recruits from their yeshiva mates and forced them to endure 5-6 hours of 'recruiting videos' (deemed brainwashing by the Haredi community) when they report to the IDF to seek deferments of service.
The haredi daily newspaper Yated Ne’eman published a report
on Friday saying that haredi youth and yeshiva students who receive
induction notices, or who go to obtain their deferrals or exemptions,
would be required to attend the new haredi induction centers, where
they would receive information about the IDF and the benefits of
enlistment.
The haredi leadership was extremely concerned that
some of the yeshiva students would be tempted to enlist after being
exposed to the information provided at the new centers.
The article in Yated Ne’eman said that if yeshiva students
were required to attend the induction centers the haredi rabbinic
leadership would instruct students to refrain from reporting for the
preliminary enlistment process, as they have done until now.
Such
a step would create serious upheaval and social unrest since anyone
who does not present themselves to the IDF enlistment offices when
called is considered to be a deserter, and is liable to arrest by the
military police.
In the year-and-a-half since the “Tal Law,”
arranging haredi military service deferrals, expired in July 2012, the
rabbinic leadership has instructed yeshiva students to report to the
enlistment offices for preliminary processing – though none of them
were drafted during this period.
Yeshiva students associated with
a hardline minority haredi faction have however refused to report,
some of whom have subsequently been arrested.
Were the mainstream
leadership to instruct the majority of yeshiva students not to report,
the army would be faced with the task of arresting several thousand
haredi youths and yeshiva students.
Bayit Yehudi faction
chairwoman Ayelet Shaked told haredi website B’Hadrei Haredim on Sunday
morning that she had held discussions with Brig.-Gen. Gadi Agmon, of
the IDF Manpower Directorate, and the senior haredi leadership, and
that an agreement had been reached not to operate the haredi induction
centers at this time.
She said that there would be no change in the enlistment processing procedures.
...
In February, the three rabbinical councils of the mainstream haredi
political movements banned yeshiva students from enlisting and said
that if legally obligatory service were mandated in the new
legislation, which it was, they would reconvene shortly thereafter to
consider banning yeshiva students from reporting to enlistment offices.
Because
the haredi induction centers will not be operated, haredi sources told
The Jerusalem Post that the councils will not convene on the issue
until after Passover, when conscription orders for haredi youth under 18
years of age are scheduled to be sent out.
It is believed that
the majority opinion among the senior haredi leadership is that to ban
yeshiva students from reporting to the IDF enlistment offices at this
stage is unnecessary, since under the terms of the new law no one will
be legally obligated to enlist until 2017.
In light of this
situation, much of the rabbinical and political leadership is of the
opinion that it is not worthwhile taking the drastic step of banning
haredi youth from reporting for preliminary processing.
From what I am hearing in the streets, sometime between now and 2017, either the law will be changed (most likely), a compromise will be reached (least likely) or there's going to be an awful lot of prison construction in this country.
The result is a widespread consensus against
the law, with Haredim uniting with many advocates of a Haredi draft to
argue that the law effectively offers the worst of both worlds.
Haredi
yeshiva students are given full exemptions from military service for
several years, then in 2017 will suddenly be told that the demands of
their religious studies and lifestyle are criminal offenses.
The Times of Israel tried to obtain a response
from MK Ofer Shelach (Yesh Atid), the co-chair of the Shaked Committee
who led the insistence on criminal sanctions, but Shelach’s staff
declined repeated requests. A Yesh Atid party spokesperson also declined
to comment.
“There’s no doubt this bill is ineffective in
advancing equal service, which is the reason we went to the last
elections,” noted Prof. Yedidia Stern, vice president of research at the
Israel Democracy Institute and a former dean of Bar-Ilan University’s
Law Faculty.
Stern was a key expert adviser to the Shaked
Committee which drafted the new law, and was a member of the Plesner
Committee, which worked on a different version of the law in the last
Knesset and whose work led to the last government’s fall and new
elections.
The final draft law “is ineffective because it
starts operating, de facto, only in 2017. But it immediately absolves a
large group of some 50,000 Haredi men of service,” since, by replacing
the previous Tal Law which the High Court of Justice called
unconstitutional last year, it removes the obligation to continue their
religious studies or face the draft.
...
“The Welfare Ministry says 20 percent of
Haredi men drop out of yeshiva. If only they were to go to the army,
we’d meet the [new law’s] quota. But that’s not why we started working
on this.”
Even after several years of operation, “the
law doesn’t achieve equality. At the same time, it insults the Haredi
public profoundly, symbolically, because in 2017 it institutes criminal
sanctions” for each man who avoids the draft – if the quotas are not
met.
“In reality, these sanctions won’t be
enforced, because the draft goals aren’t high. But the law now says that
if Haredim don’t meet these goals, people will be taken from their
Torah study and sent to prison for two years,” notes Stern.
“A wise state doesn’t institute a law it
doesn’t intend to carry out. This law is a gun without bullets, a dead
letter. The state can’t take thousands of people to prison for
ideological reasons. There just isn’t such an animal. So the criminal
sanctions are a strategic mistake. If we get to the point where Haredim
decide to force the state to implement this law, the state won’t be able
to.
Other groups, such as Arabs or settlers who may face similar
situations, will learn that the state isn’t able to enforce its rule.”
And the law is already creating blowback,
worries Stern. “My calculated guess is that Haredim won’t take advantage
of their right [under the new law] to leave yeshiva to work because
their rabbis know that the entire integrity of the Haredi world is being
tested.”
Now that they don’t have to study Torah to
avoid military service, everyone is watching to see if avoiding military
service was the original reason they were studying Torah in such
numbers, Stern explains. “Rabbis will do their best to keep students in
their studies, to prove that Torah study is an authentic Haredi impulse.
We’re already hearing that some rabbis, such as [the leaders of the]
Vizhnitz [Hassidic sect], are telling their young men not even to
register with the army,” as all Israeli 17-year-olds are required to do,
even those who receive draft exemptions. “That’s a criminal violation
already today – not just in 2017.”
Stern’s dire worries are shared by none other
than MK Ayelet Shaked (Jewish Home), the chair of the eponymous
committee that wrote the law.
...
It’s up to Haredi leaders to decide if the law will lead to integration or a culture war, she says.
“Now everything depends on leaders of the
Haredi community,” she believes. If Haredi rabbis, as Stern fears,
oppose the new system as a matter of principle, “I think that’s a
disaster. If they don’t [oppose it], it can succeed.”
...
The Haredi world is willing to compromise, Rabinovich insisted.
“As soon as a [young man] isn’t learning Torah
and isn’t in the yeshiva, there’s no question he’s like any other
citizen. There’s no question here, and all the religious authorities,
including Rabbi [Elazar] Shach, have said so,” Rabinovich said.
Rabinovich is careful to note that problem
with a military draft remain even for those who leave the yeshiva. “The
army needs to build frameworks for absorbing these people. I’m not going
to tell any Haredi young man to go to the army unless I know that I can
be sure he’ll be in an environment that won’t force him to abandon his
way of life.”
The current tensions between the Haredi and
mainstream communities, he said, were due to the fact that the secular
public “simply doesn’t accept the value of Torah study as the essential
value of the Jewish people. It’s hard to explain this to someone who
doesn’t see it. It really is. It’s a question of faith and a way of
life.”
The result of that culture gap is an unfair demand on Haredi men.
“Only 20 percent of draftees are warriors who
face real danger,” noted Rabinovich. “But the parents of those warriors
don’t complain about the 80% of soldiers who go to the army in the
morning in Tel Aviv and then return home at night to sleep. We’re asking
people to understand that yeshiva students are like the 80%. Studying
in yeshiva is not easy.”
Poll: Huge majority of National Religious public supports Chetboun's vote against draft law
Take this with a grain of salt, because online polls tend to be self-selecting. A poll on the National Religious Srugim website shows that 76% of the respondents support MK Yoni Chetboun's defiance of coalition discipline to vote against the law to draft Haredim (link in Hebrew).
According to the poll, 76% believe that Chetboun acted correctly, 10% believe that he was mistaken because it was a good law, 9% believe that he was mistaken because it is forbidden to defy coalition discipline, and 5% agree with Chetboun (for a total of 81% who agree with him!) but believe it is forbidden to defy coalition discipline.
Over the weekend, newspapers contained a full-page advertisement supporting Chetboun, which was signed by Rabbis Shmuel Eliyahu, Nachum Nerya and Elyakim Levanon. According to Rabbi Eliyahu, Chetboun represents a 'huge public' which cannot be silenced.
A friend in Teaneck sent me a copy of Rabbi Pruzansky's latest blog post (a blog I have linked several times before on this blog) and asked me to comment. I spent so much time responding to him that I thought I should share what I wrote with all of you.
Torah sustained the Jews for 2,000 years of galus (exile) - not the State of Israel, which is a recent creation.
In a perfect world, there would be avolunteer army. In a less perfect world, those who don't belong in yeshiva would go to the army in a manner thataccommodates their religious needs, and those who belong in yeshiva would be able to stay there and be supported. We don't live in a perfect world. Wedon't even livein anear perfect world.
The armydoes not needall or even most of the Haredim. But they're afraid to say it. The real goal is not to get the Haredim into the army as a fighting force - that already exists. The goal is to remove as many as possible from the yeshivos and 'endow' them with 'Israeliness.' The goal is touse the army as a melting pot.
All the threat of this law has done is to reduce the number of Haredim enlisting in the army tovirtually zero.
As for the prayer rally, you can find many comments about it by searching "prayer rally" in my blog.
I actually agree with him about the tefilla for the army, but it will never happen unless the Haredi Gedolim (great rabbis) come out and say it should happen, and in the current atmosphere, that's less likely than ever.
I also agree with him about earning a living, and I suspect that more Haredim who are not top scholars would leave the yeshivos and go to work, if only they weren't legally prohibited from doing so without serving in the army. The government has to decide what's more important -raising Haredi participationin the work force or trying to make the Haredim 'Israelis.' The government made that decision this week, and it has likely made both goals unattainable.
By the way, it's ironic that Rabbi Pruzansky (who was a college classmate of mine, and whose blog I have occasionally linked) cites Rav Dessler. It's Rav Dessler who is the basis for the current Haredi education system in Israel. The letter is in Michtav Me'Eliyahu Volume 3, Page 355. And while some have attempted to reinterpret it as being only for Rav Dessler's time, the letter itself gives no indication that was the intention. You might want to point that out to him if you have contact with him.
Freilichen (Happy) Purim!
I would suggest you follow all the links before commenting.
Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, who is chief rabbi of the city of Tzfat; Rabbi
Elyakim Levanon, who is chief rabbi of Samaria (Shomron); and Rabbi
Nahum Nerya, who heads the Torah B’Tzion yeshiva, all expressed support
for Chetboun on Thursday.
The three signed on to an advertisement in Arutz Sheva’s weekly
paper, B’Sheva, saying, “To the (reserves) Major decorated by the Chief
of Staff Citation, who loves the land and the nation, the Torah and its
scholars, the honest man, MK Yoni Chetboun – something real is
beginning.”
The advertisement concludes, “Hazak v’ametz,” a traditional blessing for strength to continue in the same path.
The phrase “something real is beginning” is a play on the
Jewish Home’s campaign slogan in the last election, “something new is
beginning.”
I wonder what percentage of Jewish Home party voters agree with Chetboun, Just saying....
The High Court appeal was lodged against the Knesset, the Government
and the Defense Minister, by the Forum's Itai Ben Horin and Eitan
Ginzburg, Deputy Mayor of Raanana.
The appeal claims that the law “does not improve upon the Tal Law, which was cancelled, but in fact makes inequality greater.”
The enlistment goals spelled out in the new law constitute a small
proportion of the yareidi yeshiva student population, the appelants
said. “For instance, the enlistment goal for 2017 will be 5,200 yeshiva
students, a goal that all agree is not high – thus continuing the Tal
Law arrangement that has already been found to be unconstitutional.”
In addition, the appelants noted, the enlistment goal is for eight
annual enlistment cycles-- i.e., for hareidi men aged 18-26. “In other
words, out of about 70,000 yeshiva students, we are talking in reality
about less than 8% of the hareidim who are supposed to serve, whether it
be in military service or national-civilian service. Of course, this is
a far cry from the government's declarations about enlisting 70% of
those eligible for service.”
"Again, we see that there is no leadership in Israel, and therefore
we have no choice but to appeal again to the High Court, which is the
last defender of the value of service in Israel.”
Can't wait until they get to the budget for prison construction. Or maybe they just pan to build huge outdoor pens.
In 2014, Israel is about to become the only country in the world where a Jew can be jailed for studying Torah. That's because on Wednesday morning, the 'equal burden' law passed the Knesset 67-1, the one being Yoni Chetboun of the Jewish Home party. The opposition, a hodgepodge of parties from the Right and the Left, boycotted the session, as they did Tuesday's session on electoral reform. The law includes criminal sanctions against boys who opt to study Torah rather than join the IDF.
This is from the first link.
"This is a historic, important bill," MK Ayelet Shaked (Bayit Yehudi),
who led the Knesset committee to prepare the legislation, declared. "For
65 years there was an exemption for all yeshiva students and the change
the coalition made is proportionate and gradual and correct."
Shaked added that she "believes in the haredi public and that it will
reach the [enlistment] goals the government set. If there will be
cooperation from haredi leadership, there will not be mandatory
enlistment.
"I imagine this court will reach the High Court by tomorrow. I hope the
judges will read the protocols of the committee meetings and see that
even if the law is not equal it has a worthy goal, which is why I think
it will stand the test of the High Court," she added.
Immediately after the new law passed., the Movement for Quality Government petitioned the High Court against it.
Since when does a 'worthy goal' get a law through the 'High Court'? Oh wait, I forgot, it depends who thinks the goal is 'worthy.'
Science and Technology Minister Yaakov Peri, who headed a committee on
the matter of haredi enlistment, said following the passage of the bill,
" For the first time, an issue at the heart of the conflict of Israeli
society, will be solved. Dramatic change will come."
Meanwhile, Likud MK Moshe Feiglin praised Jewish Home MK Yoni Chetboun for having the courage of his convictions... but Feiglin did not join him in voting against.
"Yesterday, I sent an SMS of support to MK Yoni Chetboun,” wrote
Feiglin on Facebook. “Not because I agree with him – but simply because I
appreciate any person who goes against the stream and is willing to pay
a price for standing up for his principles. I did this with MK Adi Kol,
also, after she veered a little from the sacred Coalition discipline
and was tarred and feathered by her boss.
"This whole idea of Coalition discipline needs rethinking,” Feiglin added. “Is it really the only way?”
"Sometimes, I entertain 'heretical' thoughts. I would like to set up a
government without Coalition discipline. Let every MK be truly
responsible for the laws he passes and also for maintaining the
government. Let changing wall-to-wall coalitions and oppositions form
around every law. Let the Knesset cease being a 'law machine' and
restore lost pride to itself and its members.”
Fat chance. Take responsibility for their actions? In what world?
Chetboun had clear vision about this bill.
“On the one hand, the members of the Jewish Home party, and chief among them MK Ayelet Shaked, really made a very significant effort so that this law, as I have said in the past, will be workable for the hareidi community,” he told Arutz Sheva Tuesday. "On the other hand, as time goes on – and particularly over the last twenty-four hours – I feel that we are creating a serious schism between us and the Torah world, and the hareidi community.”
“I see Israeli society being split apart by this law. I’m sure nobody meant for that to happen,” he continued. Talk
surrounding the law “is creating a message that is against the Torah
world, against the yeshivas. That disrespects them,” he lamented. “I felt deep inside that I must listen to my conscience, and that I cannot vote for this law."
By the way, Yesh Atid's Adi Kol said that she voted in favor of the law, but didn't really support it. Where would be without coalition discipline?
Jewish Home party: Voting your conscience is 'immoral'
In an earlier post, I reported on how the coalition parties had signed an agreement that they would produce every last vote in favor of three bills that are being brought for approval this week. The three bills are electoral reform (already approved), the Haredi draft and the referendum bill.
“I will oppose the Enlistment Bill. This bill was born in sin, as part
of a wave of anti-religious legislation aimed at challenging the Jewish
identity of the state,” he declared.
...
On Monday, Chetboun revealed that he, and other MKs with similar views, had made “holes” in the Enlistment Bill
through behind-the-scenes parliamentary work. “What they were hoping
for and the product we brought to the Shaked Committee were completely
different,” he declared.
A statement from the Jewish Home faction said that Chetboun agreed to
vote in favor of the bill just one day earlier. “The Jewish Home
decided yesterday in a faction vote to support the Enlistment Bill and
the National Referendum Bill, and MK Chetboun supported that decision
too,” according to the statement.
“Any vote against the faction is immoral, anti-social and
inappropriate,” it continued, adding, “The Jewish Home faction will not
tolerate a blow to the party and its members. This will have serious
consequences.”
Sources with ties to the party informed Arutz Sheva that if Chetboun
follows through on his plan to vote against the bill, the Jewish Home is
expected to force him out of all official Knesset roles, including his
position as Deputy Speaker of the Knesset.
They accused Chetboun of “undermining the hesder yeshivas and the
National Referendum law just because he wants to make headlines.” and
called on him to retract his statement.
Immoral? Voting your conscience is 'immoral'? Voting to prevent an irreparable divide in the nation is 'immoral'? Someone needs to learn a little morality.
I guess the 'Jewish Press' has crawled out of the gutters and into the sewers. This is as bad as some of the comments I saw on Facebook last week.
The original article - which was 'disappeared' but can still be found on Google cache - is even more over the top.
I went on the vosizneias.com website to check out the rally, because I expected them to bring the authentic stuff. I wasn’t disappointed, even though they just lifted the AP story without attribution:
“We’re all united against military service for religious men in Israel because it doesn’t allow for religious learning,” said Peggy Blier, an interior designer from Brooklyn. “The Israeli government is looking to destroy religious society and make the country into a secular melting pot.”
Every single point made by Peggy Blier is a blatant lie. Of course the law allows for religious learning, it merely suggests that at some point—way past the age non-Haredim serve, and for half the time that normal Israelis give freely of their lives—”religious Jews in Israel” should participate in caring for the security of their country, or, if that’s too much, serve the equivalent time in vital organizations inside their own communities for their own neighbors.
That, according to Peggy Blier, is a conspiracy on the part of the Israeli government to destroy religious society.
Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. The Jewish Press in Israel is the world's expert at lifting entire articles without attribution. If they have to attribute it, they won't publish it.
They once asked if they could republish one of my posts, and I said that they could - provided that they linked back to my blog. I was willing to let them republish the entire post and not just an excerpt that would have driven traffic to me (the only way they would consider it). They refused. They wrote that they don't link back to other people's blogs (I have the emails to prove that exchange).
They did offer to publish my blog on their site. So glad I declined the offer.... I'll stay out of the sewers, thank you.
By the way, the person who wrote the article was fired. The apology that includes the firing notice basically says 'we're in New York and we gave the Israeli branch too much autonomy.' Maybe this will give the Jewish Press an incentive to take control of what goes on in their name in Israel.
Thousands demonstrate in New York against drafting yeshiva students
Anywhere from 50,000 to 150,000 (link in Hebrew) Haredim filled a 10-block area of lower Manhattan on Sunday to protest against the government of Israel's proposed draft of yeshiva students.
Let's go to the videotape.
So what's it all about. I'd like to quote two sentences from the first link, which I think summarize why the Haredi community - both in Israel and abroad (there was also a huge demonstration in London last week) - has reacted so strongly.
'We're all united against military service for religious men in Israel because it doesn't allow for religious learning,' said Peggy Blier, an interior designer from Brooklyn. 'The Israeli government is looking to destroy religious society and make the country into a secular melting pot.'
...
'They came out of fear of one thing: that they are going to be changed, that they will be put in a melting pot and changed,' ultra-Orthodox lawmaker Israel Eichler told Israeli Channel 2 TV.
Yes, that's really what it's all about. When the Israeli government makes the effort to convince Haredim otherwise - which they won't do through sanctions, criminal or otherwise - they might succeed in getting Haredim to join the army and/or the workforce. Until then, all they've accomplished is to undo the progress which has been made in the past ten years:
In 2011, for instance, 55 percent of ultra-Orthodox women and 45 percent of the men held jobs, up from 48 percent and 33 percent respectively nine years earlier, according to Israel's central bank and its central bureau of statistics. The numbers, while still far below the national average of around 80 percent, show the community is far from the homogenous mass viewed by outsiders.
I suspect 2014's numbers will go back in the other direction.
One of the results of the lack of individual accountability for Knesset members is that Israel's government usually operates using the method of 'you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours.' Now, we're seeing the opposite, and it's becoming a full-blown war.
Infuriated at Jewish Home's Ayelet Shaked's vote in committee on Wednesday for criminal sanctions against Haredi draft dodgers, Yated Neeman, the mouthpiece of the mainstream Lithuanian Haredi community, does an expose on the budget for 'settlements' in Judea and Samaria (link in Hebrew).
The article claims that the 'settlements' (which presumably does not include the Haredi 'settlements' of Beitar Ilit and Kiryat Sefer) are an economic and security burden.
The article claims that budgets are passed through hidden methods for 'isolated settlements' and for dangerous roads, and that doesn't even take the security costs into account. According to Moshe Gafni, a Haredi MK from the United Torah Judaism party and the former chairman of the Knesset Finance Committee, "the reality in which a company of soldiers [100-200 soldiers] guards one and a half 'settlers' at fantastical expense is a set way of operating."
"We're talking about the most sectoral group in the country," said Gafni. "They worry about themselves without end, and add paragraphs and sub-paragraphs [into the budget] that bring them billions."
The line beneath the headline reads:
So long as we are paying in the hard currency of damaging the Haredi yeshiva world - will their partners in Yesh Atid ask them 'where is the money'?
The article claims that in 2011, the number of 'settlers' increased by 5% while the government's cost of maintaining them increased by 38%.
The article is one of three in Yated this Friday against the 'settlers' and it says that it's the first in a series.
During the debate over drafting Haredim, Gafni warned that he had information that would show how much the government spends on 'settlers' - a contingency of the Jewish Home party, and that he would release it if Jewish Home was instrumental in bringing about criminal sanctions for Haredi draft dodgers.
'You scratch my back, I scratch yours. You kick my shins, I kick yours.' Sounds a lot like the period of the destruction of the Second Temple (which was destroyed due to baseless hatred). And no, that's not meant to exclude Jewish Home's actions on the draft from the definition of 'baseless hatred' either.
Foreign Ministry claims plan to count Chabad emissaries time abroad as national service is illegal
The Shaked Committee's plan to count time spent by emissaries of Chabad in places outside North America and Western Europe as national service has been branded 'illegal' by Israel's Foreign ministry. The Shaked Committee is the committee that came up with the new draft law whose principal goal is to draft Haredim. The Chabad emissaries would count toward the quota of Haredim who are required to be drafted or do national service.
The Shaked Committee agreed that a select number of Chabad volunteers
would be seen as working on behalf of the state of Israel, and their
activities would be funded through the Sherut Ezrahi program for
non-military national service.
However, Foreign Ministry officials say that only Foreign Ministry
staff have the legal right to work overseas as a representative of
Israel. All others must apply for a tourist visa or work visa from the
host country.
Ministry personnel also expressed concern that Chabad volunteers
could end up in jail for violating local law. “We’re putting people in
places that they shouldn’t be in under local law,” they warned.
The law's provision would affect about 100 Chabad emissaries.
I'm posting - without further comment - the translation of a Facebook post written by Haredi journalist Tzippy Yarom. For those who read Hebrew, the original is here (I fixed Bing's translation):
Today, in 12 hours, a lot of people [will] gather at the entrance to Jerusalem.
This day [is] not for political protest. [It is] the result of cooperation between (rare!) all the ultra-Orthodox factions even [the Eida Haredith, which generally scorns] the ultra-Orthodox parties [who] participate in [elections].
There are days like this, where you declare belonging. Those who come today or who just want to come but can't [due to circumstances beyond their control, are] declaring affiliation. This day is meant to say: the Torah is our [life] and [those who work at it and study it are our leaders]. Any statement that defines as criminal anyone who wishes is to continue to study the Torah, is a statement that [is] rejected in disgust.
This day is the day of the Prophet Elijah on Mount Carmel, the day we choose if we side with the prophets of Baal or [the] Prophet [Elijah]. Whoever [comes, should come] only to pray and say: "Master of the world [we are Your] soldiers [and the soldiers of Your Torah]. There are days like this when there is no sitting on the fence, because [by] sitting on the fence you choose sides.
One of my Facebook friends (who is actually a cousin) makes some good points (in Hebrew, but I will summarize in English) about Wednesday's Shaked Committee vote to impose criminal sanctions on Haredim who don't serve in the IDF.
She writes that because of his egomania, Yair Lapid (whom she refers to as Yahir Lapid - Yahir means Arrogant) passed on an opportunity to make a financially sound decision. Had he imposed economic sanctions on the Haredim, he would not have gotten very many to go to the army, but at least he would have saved the state treasury some money. Instead, he insisted on criminal sanctions - which will never happen - while acting like a bull in the china shop with respect to the current system, which was slowly bringing Haredim into the army. The result is that the state loses twice: IDF enrollment of Haredim may actually decrease (because it was happening quietly and no longer will), while the state will save no money as a result.
If any of you doubt that Lapid's real agenda is to end Torah learning in the Jewish state (soon to be the only state in the world where Torah learning can be a crime), maybe that will convince you.
'A stupid law that will not bring about Haredi enlistment'
My guess is that all this will accomplish is to bring about the largest demonstration since more than 600,000 Haredim gathered to protest the tyranny of the Supreme Court in 1999. That was the largest demonstration this country has ever seen.
In the aftermath of a late-night Knesset vote to impose "a legal obligation to perform military service" on all (Jewish) citizens of the State of Israel, Jewish Home MK Moti Yogev got it pretty much right when he said:
Speaking to The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday night, Yogev, a reserve
committee member, termed the legislation “a stupid law” and said it
“will not succeed in bringing about haredi enlistment.”
The MK
said that the automatic imposition of criminal sanctions if enlistment
targets were not met would not be effective. He introduced various
procedural obstacles during the committee hearing to indicate his
opposition to the legislation.
The committee’s vote to impose
criminal sanctions evoked consternation from the mainstream haredi
leadership, which vowed that the haredi public would take to the
streets in mass protest against the law.
Actually, some of the key campaigners for 'equality' seem to have gotten it right as well.
The Hiddush religious freedom lobbying group said the decision to
impose criminal sanctions was “a classic example of public deception and
the preference for coalition survival instead of the good of the
country.
“This decision ensures that equality in military
conscription will not be achieved, but what will be achieved is a
severe and unnecessary societal division,” the organization commented.
Prime Minister Netanyahu has frozen the vote in the Shaked Committee on sanctions against Haredim refusing to join the army, after the Haredim in the committee said that they would vote with the secular parties to 'equalize' army service (by increasing the length of time in the army) for the hesder yeshivas. The hesder yeshivas, which combine army service with Torah study, are a sacred cow of the national religious community.
The drama unfolded during the Committee meeting when MK Eliezer Stern
(HaTnua) requested a revote on whether or not the army service chapter
of the Hesder program, which combines Torah learning with army service,
will be lengthened. Hareidi MKs then stated that they would, indeed,
vote for the service to be lengthened.
One United Torah Judaism MK told Arutz Sheva that the move was in response to Jewish Home, who finally agreed with Yesh Atid Tuesday to allow criminal sanctions to be enacted for hareidi draft-dodgers - albeit with a few caveats. "You push us, we'll push back," the MK fired.
The Prime Minister then allegedly ordered MK Tzahi Hanegbi to leave
the session and not to vote against the Hesder service extension, after
realizing that Yesh Atid and Jewish Home had formed a "deal" to
keep Hesder yeshiva service at the status quo.
At this point, Netanyahu put the vote on hold until internal
conflicts could be worked out within the coalition. It is unclear why
Netanyahu protested the move, as an agreement signed between the Likud
and Jewish Home upon the latter entering the coalition included a clause
ensuring that Hesder army service would remain as it is: at 16 months.
Maybe Netanyahu is still holding out hope that the Haredim will replace Jewish Home in the coalition if the latter leaves over the 'peace process.'
Earlier on Tuesday, in a Facebook post, Jewish Home MK Uri Orbach lashed out at the Haredi parties for 'incitement' against the National Religious community.
"I am surprised to see the gap between Jewish Home's efforts to save
them [the hareidi community] from the 'draft edict,' as they call it,
and the outpouring of hate they respond with in the Knesset and in their
newspapers," Orbach lamented.
...
The MK stressed that Jewish Home "is not looking for gratitude" from
the hareidi sector, per se, "but nearly our entire faction rose up to
try and prevent any single hareidi man from, G-d forbid, being drafted
into the terrible army," he sarcastically noted. "Our faction was
willing to dilute those 'criminal' sanctions until the Messiah comes,
and to take into account the hareidi community's needs as much as
possible."
Orbach lamented that the repayment that the Jewish Home, and the
religious Zionist community, have received for their trouble, has been
to be lumped together with the hareidi community, as the latter are
being sanctioned by the State for refusing to heed the draft order.
"We have paid the price now that the Hesder yeshivas
are facing cuts, because [MK Eliezer] Stern and the secular factions
are apparently despairing on the hareidi draft issue," the MK fired.
"In all our efforts to appease the hareidi community and show that we
care about the Torah learning of the hareidi world (even those who
don't actually sit and learn), we seem to have forgotten that the ideal
is a combination of army learning and Torah study," he added. "That a
man has to provide for his family and also learn Torah. Yes, nonsense
like that."
"They call us the 'Home of Gentiles',
they spit dirt at us about our Rabbis, and we stay silent.,'" the MK
continued, in a Facebook post. "It is difficult for us to fight with
them, they are really unfortunate, and maybe one day they will even
agree with us on the issue of the Land of Israel (ha!)."
"Yes, sometimes politics demands patience and forbearance," he
reflected. "But sometimes we also exaggerate the issues a little."
The Haredim still resent Jewish Home going into the coalition with Yesh Atid under an agreement to keep the Haredim out. Is anyone really surprised at this?
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
