From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, May 28, 2024
130 senior economists warn that lack of Haredi enlistment leading country to ‘abyss’
Sharon Wrobel is a tech reporter for The Times of Israel.
A group of 130 senior economists warns lawmakers that increasing the burden of military reserve duty on the working population, while continuing to exempt the ultra-Orthodox from conscription, endangers the very existence of the country.
In a harshly worded letter, the group says the government’s policies of imposing an unfairly heavy economic and military burden on one part of the citizenry and of allocating funds to educational institutions that do not teach core studies are leading the country to an “abyss endangering its existence.”
This is “unsustainable, that a growing part of the population has a waiver from carrying the burden, especially in the difficult and complex security reality that Israel is facing,” the group argues.
In 2017, the High Court of Justice invalidated the legal exemption of Haredim as discriminatory and ordered the government to pass a new conscription law. The government has since been unable to agree on legislation, repeatedly extending the non-conscription policy, while Haredi politicians have sought to pass legislation cementing the exemptions.
“Without a change of current policies, many of those who bear the heavy economic and security burden will prefer to emigrate from Israel, and the most educated and skilled will be the first to leave,” the group says. “The population that will remain in Israel will be less educated and less productive.”
“This will have a spiraling effect of emigration,” it adds. “To avert the danger of national collapse, the state’s leader must face the present reality and adopt without delay a strategy that will return Israel to a sustainable path.”
Among the signatories of the letter are senior academics, including Prof. Omer Moav, a former adviser to the finance minister; Prof. Avi Ben Bassat, a former director of the Finance Ministry; Prof. Udi Nisan, former budget head at the Finance Ministry; and Prof. Manuel Trajtenberg, who held a string of key government positions. Also signing the letter are a group of senior economists, including Prof. Leo Leiderman, Dr. Michael Sarel, and Prof. Momi Dahan, as well as former senior Bank of Israel officials.
