About 157 thousand Haredim evade regular military service (Al Jazeera)
The Israeli military website "Wala" said that army commanders informed Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant that they need to recruit about 20,000 additional soldiers so that the army can carry out routine tasks and military operations in various fields.
Israel is experiencing a severe political crisis due to the conscription law. While the religious parties oppose compromising the principle of exempting religious people from military service, ministers, including War Council member Benny Gantz, Defense Minister Yoav Galant, and opposition leader Yair Lapid, are demanding an end to this exemption.
The website's military correspondent quoted senior army commanders as confirming that there is a great necessity for this additional recruitment in light of the increasing threats and intelligence estimates regarding the northern front with Lebanon.
The website also pointed out the need to change the patterns of recruitment of religious Jews (Haredim), in terms of amending training rules, taking into account the rules of halal eating, and separating women and men in military units.
Haredi recruitment
In turn, Haaretz newspaper quoted a letter sent by the Israeli government's judicial advisor, Gali Behrav Meara, to the Israeli Supreme Court, stating that the recruitment of religious Haredim must begin from the beginning of next month.
The content of the letter stated that “recruitment authorities must act with regard to the recruitment procedures for those whose service has been postponed according to the law or for those who have reached the Haredi conscription age, leaving the method of implementation for later.”
The letter also stated that the government will not be able to transfer budget funds to religious centers and schools for those who do not send a request for conscription and those who are not conscripts.
The newspaper added that the Israeli Attorney General's Office had opposed the attempt of Benjamin Netanyahu's government to extend the deadline for the draft law on conscription of ultra-Orthodox Jews.
The Board of Grievances had asked to extend the submission of the application until Thursday afternoon, which the newspaper considered a slap on the part of the judicial advisor to Prime Minister Netanyahu.
The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth previously reported that the religious parties in the ruling coalition threatened to withdraw if a new conscription law was adopted that abolished the exemption enjoyed by religious Jews.
Netanyahu's right-wing government had sought to enact a law exempting the Haredim from military service, which opened the door wide to interactions in Israel between supporters and opponents, which heralded a crisis within the emergency government.
Since 2017, successive governments have failed to reach a consensus law regarding the recruitment of Haredim, after the Supreme Court annulled a law enacted in 2015, which ruled to exempt them from military service, considering that it violates the “principle of equality.”
Source: Al Jazeera + Israeli press