Getting Our Priorities Right
The Tragedy of October 7th marked a huge security failure for Israel. This failure was accompanied by a lack of proper response by Netanyahu’s government ministries post October 7th –failing to address the needs of bereaved families, the families of the hostages, soldiers in need of food supply and military equipment, and displaced families. In contrast, Israeli civil society rose up to the task quickly and efficiently, proving its resilience and strength.
October 7th followed a difficult year, in which the government tried to promote dozens of dangerous laws and initiatives – most of which were blocked thanks to the unprecedented pro-democracy protest. If one had thought that the shock of October 7th would cause the government to recalculate its route – we were soon disillusioned.
At the end of 2023, the Knesset passed a revised national budget for 2023, and these days the Knesset is debating a revised budget for 2024. Both budgets reflect twisted priorities. They do not address the pressing needs of the war. Instead, the government chose to transfer billions of shekels to sectorial needs of its coalition partners: the ultra-Orthodox and national religious parties. Hundreds of millions of shekels are intended for Jewish identity and Jewish religious purposes, which the government intends to transfer solely to Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox organizations and institutions.
Another twisted priority is ultra-Orthodox exemption from army service. As is well known, tens of thousands of Yeshiva students are exempt from army service. The law exempting these students from army service has been struck down repeatedly by the Israeli Supreme Court due to its discriminatory nature, only to be reenacted by the government seeking to placate its coalition partners. Other Yeshiva students (“Yeshivot Hesder” or Zionist Yeshivot) serve in the military for a much shorter periods than their secular counterparts (17 months instead of 32 months).
Now, because of the urgent needs of military, the Defense Minister has decided to extend the mandatory periods of army service and reserve duty and to cancel the deferment of army service which have been given to hundreds of young men who participate in gap year programs. These are pre military preparatory (mechinot) and service year programs. Participants in these programs study and volunteer, assisting Israeli society in furthering a variety of educational and welfare goals, and are enlisted after their gap year is over. The Ministry of Defense has decided to cancel the deferment of army service of 1,300 men – 850 of them from non-Haredi mechinot and only 450 of them from Yeshivot. Yeshiva students will be recruited only after they complete their gap year, during their second year of deferment, while the mechinot students will have to leave their meaningful program in the middle of the year. Twenty percent of the male students in mechinot will be enlisted, as opposed to only 8% of Yeshiva students.
We are not willing to accept this blatant discrimination in sharing of the military burden. This is why the Israel Religious Action Center just submitted an urgent petition to the Israeli Supreme Court on behalf of several petitioners: the Kibbutz Movement, five pre-military gap-year mechinot (including the mechina of the Israeli Reform Movement), and a group of individual participants along with their parents, challenging the Defense Minister’s discriminatory decision. There is no doubt that there is a greater military need for soldiers now, due to the war with Hamas, but we are demanding that the Ministry of Defense draft everyone equally.
One gap-year student, Yaniv Daor, a participant in the Reform Movement’s preparatory program in Jaffa, who is among the petitioners, puts it this way: “They always talk about ‘unity’ and how ‘we are all brothers.’ Now, it’s time for all my brothers and my peers to take their place carrying the stretcher (a military expression for sharing the burden) together. I want to make it clear that we will report for service in accordance with the orders we receive and we will perform every duty that the army requires of us to do in the best possible way that we can, just as previous graduates of our programs have done for years. But it is important that the IDF also understands the implications of not allowing us to complete our program. If the IDF needs combat soldiers, its obligation is to conscript us in an equitable manner that affects equally all gap-year program participants, for whom the army has approved deferral.”
Meanwhile, the early draft orders are being issued right now. About 70% of the early draftees called up for March 2024 will be from pre-military preparatory programs, as well as from service year program, while only 30% of the total of the draftees will be from the yeshiva programs.
This unbearable discrimination is especially glaring at a time of war and tremendous sacrifice. The Israeli public is saying enough is enough. The court must order the government to treat all sectors of Israeli society equally instead of favoring the ultra-orthodox and national religious sectors of Israeli society at the expense of other sectors. We must get our priorities straight.
