The Haredim refuse conscription into the army, considering Israel secular (Al Jazeera)

The Ministry of Finance in Israel said that the current draft law for compulsory conscription of the Haredim (religious Jews) will not increase their participation in the workforce, and that the law will not meet security needs during the current state of war in the Gaza Strip, according to the Globes economic newspaper.

Before the government session scheduled to approve the draft law was postponed indefinitely due to disagreements, the Israeli newspaper quoted a letter from the Legal Advisor for Finance, Asi Messing, in which he strongly criticized the law.

With Israel's large human losses in the Gaza Strip

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which the leaders of the occupation army point out - Defense Minister Yoav Galant called at the end of last month for the enactment of a new law abolishing the exemptions from conscription and military service enjoyed by ultra-Orthodox Jews (Haredim).

Israeli affairs expert Ahmed Al-Bahnasi told Al Jazeera Net - earlier - that the religious parties in Israel are a “burden” on Israeli society for reasons related to their refusal to serve in the military for the reason of devoting themselves to studying religion or relying on financial aid from the government instead of working.

According to Messing’s statements, “The preamble to the proposed government decision states that economic data has nothing to do with the decision, which has no impact on the economy. But this issue has major economic implications.”

He added - in a speech reported by the newspaper - that this comes despite the government dropping the most controversial clause in the draft law, which stipulates raising the age of exempting males studying in religious school from military service to 35 years.

He also says that meeting the security needs of soldiers by prolonging compulsory and reserve service over the next decade would cost Israel 104 billion shekels ($28.35 billion), adding that it is more economically beneficial to reduce the burden on those who serve (in the army) by increasing the number of conscripts, which is what It is consistent with the objectives of the law.

Current recruitment status for Haredim

  • The law currently allows anyone who has attended independent Orthodox religious education (Haredi) for a period of no less than 4 years to be exempt from compulsory military service upon reaching the age of 18 years.

  • The decision to exempt “Haredi” youth from compulsory conscription if they enroll in religious schools dates back to a settlement reached during the era of Israel’s founder, David Ben-Gurion, in 1948, and the exemptions were increasingly expanded, thanks to the 1977 decision.

  • The Haredim refuse conscription into the army, considering Israel a secular state.

  • The number of Haredim in 2022 reached about one million and 280 thousand people, compared to 750 thousand in 2009, and they now constitute 13.3% of the total population of Israel.

The Knesset approved the call-up of 350,000 reserve soldiers to the army with the start of the war on Gaza (Israeli Army)

No clear goals

The other aspect of the draft law that has raised criticism is the lack of clear goals for Haredi recruitment, or the imposition of significant financial penalties on those who do not enlist.

According to Messing, despite the importance of the matter, the draft law does not specify any objectives for recruitment, nor does it provide tools that would create certainty about achieving these objectives. It will also serve as a basis for planning alternatives to recruitment for compulsory and reserve service, with legal loopholes that can be used to exempt from recruitment. Or postpone it.

He also criticizes the lack of attention so far to the position of Finance Ministry professionals regarding the law, saying, “Given the economic importance of this plan with all its components, there is a need to involve financial specialists who deal with this field in the process of drafting the plan and studying the consequences that will result from it.”

Messing rules out that the current proposed version of the law will lead to the required expansion in the rate of compulsory recruitment of Haredim, so that it meets current security needs, while the ministry’s specialists do not expect any change in the rate of Haredi participation in the workforce.

The Haredim oppose military service and replace it with studying the Torah and Judaism (Al Jazeera)

Alternative mechanisms

Messing outlines the basics that the Ministry of Finance believes should form the basis of an alternative plan for Haredi recruitment, according to what the Israeli newspaper quoted him as follows:

  • Separating the duty of military service from restrictions on entering the labor market.

  • Avoid setting an age for exemption from conscription.

  • A militarily useful service that would reduce the security burden on the sectors of the population currently serving, as soon as possible.

  • Using economic incentives that will directly affect individuals’ income.

He added, "Alternative mechanisms can be studied to formulate an arrangement whose goal would be to increase the number of Haredi recruits into the army in order to meet security needs, while allowing some members of this community to engage in spending their time in Torah studies, while avoiding the significant economic damage that would result from prohibiting their participation in the labor market."

Messing concludes his statements by saying, "Such an arrangement could include setting a numerical framework for the quota of exemptions for religious school students. With the remaining students being obligated to enlist on the basis of the mechanisms found in the IDF Service Law, and they will be individually subject to financial penalties."

Source: Israeli press