During a visit to IDF troops in the Gaza Strip yesterday, Defense Minister Israel Katz was confronted by a senior commander over the issue of the ultra-Orthodox community’s continued exemptions from mandatory military service, according to a video aired by Channel 12 news.
In the clip, the unnamed officer expresses frustration over the personal toll of extended service, while other Israelis are not required to serve at all.
“We are on our 500th day [of service]. We have left our families behind for 500 days,” the commander tells Katz in the footage.
“My father passed away last year, my son is having his bar mitzvah in three weeks — I want to take my 80-year-old mother to the hospital and I can’t,” he continues.
“Your job is to make sure…that everyone gets under the stretcher,” the officer says, referring to shared burden and sacrifice.
When questioned by Katz, the commander makes his criticism explicit: “I am speaking about the ultra-Orthodox.”
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