Knesset speaker denounces ‘hypocrisy’ of calls to conscript Arabs

Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin (Likud) on Monday slammed proposals calling for IDF conscription of Arabs.

“You don’t have to be a genius to realize that it’s impossible to draft the Arab public. Any initiatives of this sort smack of hypocrisy and even malice,” Rivlin said at a Ramadan Iftar feast at Kafar Qara.

The Knesset speaker, a veteran member of parliament and contender for president after Shimon Peres ends his term, said he would oppose any motion to make state budgetary allocations contingent on military or national service, adding that the Arab public has suffered for years from budgetary discrimination and that moves must be adopted to create full and true equality for all Israeli citizens.

Instead of drafting Arabs, Rivlin proposed establishing a separate administration to deal with enlisting them to national service.

Yisrael Beytenu Chairman Avigdor Liberman recently proposed a draft legislation mandating military or alternative national service for all, including ultra-Orthodox and Arab Israelis, at 18.

The conscription issue has been at the crux of Knesset debates for months since the High Court of Justice ruled in March that the Tal Law, which granted draft exemptions to ultra-Orthodox Israelis, could not be renewed. The Tal Law is set to expire on August 1.

Kadima bolted the coalition last week because of the failure to agree with the Likud on terms for conscription or alternative national service for the ultra-Orthodox and Arab sectors.