Defense minister: All must serve, whether in army or civil service

The war of words over draft dodging by ultra-Orthodox heated up a notch Sunday evening when Defense Minister Ehud Barak announced that he will propose a new law in which the army will decide who to recruit, with all left out of uniform serving a mandatory year of national service.

The 10-year-old Tal Law, which allowed ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students to avoid compulsory military service, is set to expire soon, leaving politicians to look for ways to draft the Haredi community into serving the country.

Barak’s proposal would allow approximately 400 yeshiva students a year to claim an exemption in order to continue their religious studies. The rest, including Israeli Arabs, would serve a year in national or civil service, donating their time to a variety of causes, like teaching in underserved schools or working in hospitals.

The national service option is currently available to ultra-Orthodox and Israeli Arabs, though relatively few join the program.

Barak, who served as the IDF chief of general staff from 1991-1995, said that in order to balance out the difference between soldiers serving in the army for three years and those in civil service for only one year, the bill he intends to propose will include the IDF compensating soldiers for their two additional years of service at the equivalent of minimum wage. The army would also assist soldiers in studying or train toward a profession after their military service.

Those serving one year in civil or national service would be expected to integrate into the national work force upon completion of their service.

Deputy Health Minister Ya’acov Litzman (United Torah Judaism) said on Sunday that his party would not agree to any change in the status quo in which yeshiva students are exempt from military and national service, according the Army Radio.

Visiting the “Suckers Tent” set up by people protesting ultra-Orthodox exemptions, earlier Sunday Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu  reportedly told Boaz Nol, a representative of the protest movement that that he intended to make the draft issue a major focus of his campaign.

On Saturday, Foreign Minister and Yisrael Beiteinu head Avigdor Lieberman reportedly threatened to topple the governing coalition if a law compelling the ultra-Orthodox into army service was not passed.

Barak’s proposal to limit exemptions to 400 yeshiva students is actually a return to the original idea underlying ultra-Orthodox army exemptions.

Israel’s first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, agreed with the religious leadership of the fledgling Jewish state that a few hundred of the best yeshiva students would be exempt from military service in order to focus solely on their religious studies.

According to a report in Israel Hayom, in 2011, an estimated 58,000 ultra-Orthodox students claimed yeshiva deferment.

In a survey Sunday, 72% of Israelis polled feel that the ultra-Orthodox should serve in the IDF. Only 13% of the 508 Jewish adults polled opposed a forced recruitment of the ultra-Orthodox.

The poll was commissioned by Ynet news and non-profit group Gesher, an organization dedicated to bridging gaps in Israeli society.