Lapid hails new conscription bill as ‘historic change’

The Peri Committee’s approval of the draft version of a new military conscription law was a “historic moment,” Finance Minister Yair Lapid said hours after ministers cast their final vote Wednesday.

The Israeli public needs the ultra-Orthodox, “with gun in hand, alongside us,” he said.

“I want to speak to Asher from Jerusalem and Haim from Bnei Brak. What’s happening… isn’t an attack on the world of Torah,” Lapid said during a press conference at the Knesset. “None of us wants to force you into secularism.”

“If a third intifada breaks out, terrorists won’t differentiate” between different parts of Israeli society, Lapid told the Haredim.

“We’re together in the same boat and we can’t carry you on our backs. I know you think studying Torah defends the people of Israel. The idea that ‘all the people of Israel are brothers’ protects us just as much,” Lapid said.

“This is a historic change,” Lapid said, pointing to the high percentage of ultra-Orthodox children in the education system and explaining Israel could no longer afford to have such a large sector exclude itself from the army and workforce.

Lapid said the biggest change was the fact that the army would decide who served and who didn’t. No longer would recruits be released from military service based on their sectarian association as opposed to the IDF’s needs, he said.

“In three years 70% of the ultra-Orthodox community will be enlisted, and that’s a badge of honor,” Lapid told reporters.

The government has once again proven, he said, that it is here “to promote change, even in the most explosive issues facing Israeli society.”

The ministerial committee tasked with drafting a new military conscription law completed its work earlier in the day. One of the ministers’ final decisions, ahead of sending the bill to the Knesset to complete legislation, was to approve the controversial use of criminal sanctions against draft dodgers.

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon also welcomed the decision.

“The fact that there are certain sectors in Israeli society not serving [their country] is an open, bleeding wound, an unacceptable phenomenon that we must change,” he said in a statement. “It is impossible to change a reality that has prevailed for 65 years overnight. We are embarking on a gradual, patient process, free of the incitement, hate and delegitimization of the Haredi and arab sectors… We must act with wisdom, responsibility and sound judgement in order to avoid consolidating the Haredi and Arab sectors’ opposition.”

The committee’s decision came two days after a disagreement within the panel briefly threatened to fell the government coalition. Encouraged by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Ya’alon (Likud) backed down and voted for the sanctions clause, as did three other ministers. Housing Minister Uri Ariel (Jewish Home) was the sole objector to the decision, while Environment Minister Amir Peretz (Hatnua) abstained.

The draft proposal states that 18-year-old yeshiva students engaged in full-time Torah study would be allowed to defer service until age 21, at which point they would have to choose either to enlist in the IDF or register for national or civil service.

However, 1,800 top Torah scholars per year will be entirely exempted from service, far below the estimated 7,000-8,000 ultra-Orthodox 18-year-olds who do not currently register each year.

According to Wednesday’s decision, if the ultra-Orthodox community fails to reach the numbers set forth in the law, the vast majority of yeshiva students — excluding the 1,800 exempt — will be treated as draft dodgers and face criminal sanctions. Whoever is defense minister will have the power to enforce the use of such sanctions, the committee decided.

Peretz told Israel Radio he didn’t believe the new law would pass the legal appeals it would face.

He described the committee’s work as having deteriorated after a strong start due to Yesh Atid’s need to gain points in the press and among voters.