Ultra-Orthodox Draft Evasion is a Symptom, Not Only a Problem

While Israelis continue to demand the return of the 59 hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza, to fight on multiple fronts, and to serve months in reserve duty, the issue of close to 70,000 exemptions from army service granted to Ultra-Orthodox men is a source of great tension and anger. Regardless of the fact that close to 70% of the public sees the hostage issue as top priority and advocates ending the war in Gaza, army duty persists as a part of life alongside mourning for the fallen, concern for the injured, and ongoing security alerts. Thus, the current government’s insistence on searching for ways to allow the Ultra-Orthodox to systematically shirk their duty remains a prime source of outrage against it.

Yet the refusal of young Ultra-Orthodox men to be drafted is above all a symptom of a far wider problem in Israel today. The Ultra-Orthodox population, which now composes over 10% of the population, reaps all the benefits of living in a modern, wealthy, democratic state at the same time it demands autonomy and release from most of the the civilian responsibilities — in addition to the military ones. The Ultra-Orthodox enjoy the free, national health care, social services, free schooling from age 3, while choosing not to work (just slightly over 50% of the men are employed), thereby receiving discounts on city taxes, and preference in public offices as well as priority in subsidized housing. Of even greater concern is their opposition to some of the fundamental principles of the Israeli state.

The Ultra-Orthodox reject the idea of equality. Not only do they insist that in all, including the most tangible ways, are the Jewish people the”chosen” people, hence advocating institutionalized racism, they openly and explicitly favor their own in every aspect of life. For them, anyone who calls himself god-fearing and considers himself subject to Torah law is given preference. Men and women are not equal: as their legal representatives have said in court, “women have different responsibilities”. Even among themselves, those of Sephardi (Eastern) background are considered inferior to Ashkenazim (from the West): in a famous Supreme Court case (“Emanuel”), Ashkenazi parents preferred to be sent to jail rather than have their children study alongside Sephardi children. Leaders of the Ashkenazi Ultra-Orthodox community, including some of their Knesset members, backed the rebelling parents.

As part of their rejection of equality, the foundation of democracy, they reject the democratic system except in the ways it serves their purposes. Their ministers, MKs, and public all openly clarify that they are obedient to their rabbis and to their interpretation of religious law, not to laws of the state. They have held huge protests against the Supreme Court, whose decisions they do not recognize — unless they serve their community. The Ultra-Orthodox parties are completely subservient to a rabbinical council, much as in Iran — but unlike Iran, lack even a semblance of democratic mechanisms. They vote for whomever they are told to vote, en masse, and according to their ethnic breakdown: Sephardim vote for Sephardi parties, Ashkenazim for Ashkenazim.

Furthermore, just as they disregard national law, they show no allegiance to the state in any way. They refuse to display the flag in any of their neighborhoods, and the more extreme among them have been known to burn flags publicly. The Ultra-Orthodox do not celebrate, but entirely ignore, Israel’s Independence day, as well as Memorial Day. They study no Israeli history or geography, which may be a part of the reason why they now comprise 40% of the settlers in the West Bank: they have no idea what the “Green Line” is or where the national border runs, and are oblivious to it. All of this is manifest in their school curriculum, which for boys is devoid of anything but religious studies beginning in sixth grade, and for many contain no “secular” subjects, such as math, science, or world history, at any age.

For the Ultra-Orthodox, the state is a foreign body to be milked like a cow, which exists only to serve them, and never the reverse. The expectation they serve in the Israeli army is to them utterly ludicrous. Why should they give their time — heaven forbid, their lives — to a country which is meant to serve them, to defend borders they don’t recognize (God promised them all of greater Israel), alongside people who are beneath them? Worse still, they wouldn’t dream of serving together with women who are impure, or take orders from anyone but their religious leaders.

Ending the blanket army exemptions is just the tip of the iceberg. A sea of change is needed to bring the increasingly fanatic Ultra-Orthodox community into order. Israel must start by ending their extraordinary benefits and re-building their educational system, which is hardly worthy of the name. Once the Ultra-Orthodox realize their way of life, which is entirely dependent on the generosity of corrupt politicians who buy their support, is untenable and unsustainable, the open and democratic society can begin to incorporate, educate, and accept them. Otherwise, there will be a crisis not only regarding the shortage of soldiers, but of supporting the abundance of children in the huge families, on welfare by choice, whose only competence is in reproduction.