From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, February 13, 2024
Lapid calls on Gantz, Eisenkot to push for ultra-Orthodox draft, vows to oppose IDF plan
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Opposition leader Yair Lapid calls on members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition to oppose the government’s recently unveiled military service bill unless steps are taken to ensure “equality of the burden” of national service.
Speaking at a press conference in Tel Aviv, Lapid specifically appeals to National Unity Ministers Gadi Eisenkot and Benny Gantz, both former IDF chief of staffs, to push for the enlistment of the Haredi youth “that the army needs.”
“We need a lot more soldiers. [The army] is too small,” he declares, accusing Netanyahu of raising social benefits for the ultra-Orthodox so that they do not feel any economic pressure to further integrate into Israeli society.
An IDF plan backed by the government would see the amount of time conscripts and reservists serve in the military increased to make up manpower shortages without any concurrent moves to end the de facto exemptions for the ultra-Orthodox.
“We will oppose this law with all of our strength,” Lapid says, calling on “our ultra-Orthodox brothers” to enlist and decrying the “automatic response” of Haredi politicians who claim efforts to enlist yeshiva students come from a place of hatred.
While secular and national religious Israelis have to deal with the hardships of service and mourn their dead, those in the Haredi community do not, he continues, stating that this situation is “not right” and “needs to end.”
Addressing the argument that there is no way to force the ultra-Orthodox to enlist, Lapid argues that “you don’t need tanks in Bnei Brak,” you only need to create economic incentives by linking “rights and obligations.”
Asked how he can overcome the ultra-Orthodox parties’ key position as kingmakers in the coalition, Lapid tells The Times of Israel that “the entire country is changed.”
“We are not the same people that we were before. This is something larger than everyone. And we need to acknowledge the fact that we cannot go on the way it used to be because the challenges we have are different, the army we need is different, therefore we need to draft the Haredim. This is the number one priority now,” he says.
