From the Liveblog of
Sunday, April 7, 2024
18 prominent Shas rabbis reject any compromise on Haredi draft
Cnaan Lidor is The Times of Israel's Jewish World reporter
Eighteen prominent rabbis associated with the Shas Sephardic Haredi party are rejecting any compromise on the conscription of Haredi Jews.
A letter signed by yeshiva heads and influential rabbis including Ovadia Yosef, the son of the Chief Sephardic Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, formulates a position similar to that of leaders of Ashkenazi Haredi society, where multiple leaders reject any conscription.
“Compromise will lead to ruination,” states the document, adding, “We will not be deterred from going to prison” and to “give our souls bravely and courageously to observe our holy Torah.”
Many promoters of greater participation by Haredim in carrying the burden of national service hope for greater flexibility on the issue in Sephardic society, which is seen as less insular than the Ashkenazi ultra-Orthodox community.
The document, titled “Clear Instructions in the Face of Rulings on Conscription,” states that pressure to increase Haredi participation is part of a “malicious plan” to “gather under their control” the Haredi public and “reduce the number of those who observe” the commandments of the Torah.
The document also rejects a compromise offer by Welfare Minister Ya’akov Margi of Shas in February, who proposed in an interview to honor the legally required conscription of Haredi young men who are not studying in yeshivas in exchange for enshrining the controversial exemption of those who are.
The state is currently formulating its legal reaction to the High Court of Justice’s ruling last week barring the government from providing funds to ultra-Orthodox yeshivas for students eligible for IDF enlistment. The ruling effectively ended subsidies for nearly 50,000 full-time Talmud students.
