Anti-draft protesters heckle Liberman as he visits slain soldier’s family home
Following condolence call, a number of ultra-Orthodox demonstrators shout at former defense minister that he is worse than the killer of of Sgt. Yosef Cohen
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Ultra-Orthodox protesters shouted abuse at former defense minister MK Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu) as he left the family home of an IDF soldier killed in a West Bank terror attack after paying a condolence visit on Wednesday evening.
Liberman visited the home of Sgt. Yosef Cohen in Jerusalem’s ultra-Orthodox Mekor Baruch neighborhood, to pay his respects.
Cohen and another soldier, Mor Yosef, were both killed last Thursday when a Palestinian shot them in an attack outside the Givat Assaf outpost. A third soldier was critically injured in the shooting, and a civilian woman was seriously wounded although her condition later improved.
Both soldiers were members of the ultra-Orthodox Netzah Yehuda Brigade, composed of soldiers who willingly join up.
"יותר גרוע מרוצח": ליברמן מותקף מחוץ לבית החייל שנפל • @Yossi_eli ואבישי בן חיים עם התיעוד >> https://t.co/MFZamsBn43
(צילום: חיים גולדברג, כיכר השבת) pic.twitter.com/91e7IH5H9x
— חדשות 13 (@newsisrael13) December 19, 2018
As Liberman exited the building several ultra-Orthodox men who had gathered outside began shouting at him in protest to his backing of bill to extend the draft to the ultra-Orthodox community.
Several cries of “murderer” were heard, and one protester claimed Liberman was worse than Cohen’s killers for drafting him.
A number of relatives, neighbors and passers-by attempted to silence the demonstrators.
The High Court of Justice earlier this month granted the government a month-and-a-half extension to pass a contentious new bill on the military draft of ultra-Orthodox men.
Current regulations that allow ultra-Orthodox seminary students to defer their mandatory IDF service were set to expire at the beginning of the month, and without the extension, thousands of yeshiva students would have become eligible to be drafted.
The Netanyahu government had requested a four-month extension from the High Court, saying it needed more time to pass the enlistment law in the wake of Avigdor Liberman’s sudden resignation as defense minister. Liberman also pulled his Yisrael Beytenu party out of Netanyahu’s coalition, leaving it with the minimum majority of 61 out of 120 total Knesset seats.
The Defense Ministry-drafted bill sets minimum yearly targets for ultra-Orthodox conscription that, if not met, would result in financial sanctions on the yeshivas where they study. At the same time, it would also formalize exemptions for the vast majority of yeshiva students.
The ultra-Orthodox Knesset parties had opposed the Defense Ministry version of the draft bill and were seeking amendments.
Most in the ultra-Orthodox community eschew the mandatory military service that applies to Israelis, and the community has historically enjoyed blanket exemptions from the army in favor of religious seminary studies.
Last September, the High Court ruled that a 2015 version of Israel’s draft law granting most yeshiva students exemptions from service was unconstitutional, and gave lawmakers a year to institute new guidelines for ultra-Orthodox enlistment. The court later extended the deadline, giving the government until December 2 to pass an amended version of the enlistment bill, before again extending the deadline this month.
The Times of Israel Community.