Gantz: Government should have passed Haredi conscription law instead of judicial overhaul

War cabinet minister Benny Gantz issues a statement slamming the government for continually failing to create any framework for Haredi IDF service, leading to today’s pivotal High Court hearing.

“The government should have created a service framework a year ago, way before the war started, but it was busy with a regime overthrow,” he says, referencing the highly contentious judicial overhaul that was largely shelved at the start of the war.

Gantz, a former defense minister and former IDF chief, says the government’s most recent proposal “won’t bring about enlistment, certainly not in the numbers that the defense establishment and the State of Israel need.”

The Hamas onslaught of October 7, he says, “proved once again that an army of the people is an existential need” and that a national service system that includes Haredim, Arabs and all sectors of society “is the way to ensure our security.”

“It’s not too late to come to your senses and advance it,” he adds.