MK says any ultra-Orthodox enlistment bill will include sanctions against draft dodgers

Any ultra-Orthodox enlistment bill ultimately passed by the Knesset will contain individual sanctions on Haredi draft dodgers, Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Yuli Edelstein declares during a debate on the controversial legislation.

“There is a demand by the budget department for personal sanctions. They even issued a letter on the subject. So I am announcing [that] there will be personal and institutional sanctions. We want to bring soldiers to the IDF, and therefore, the law that comes out of this committee will include a comprehensive and inclusive answer,” he says.

In a position paper sent to the committee last week, the head of the Finance Ministry’s budget department insisted that conscripting large numbers of ultra-Orthodox Israelis for military service depends on the implementation of hard-hitting, long-term sanctions on draft dodgers.

In his letter, Yogev Gardos wrote that sanctions would only be effective if they have a significant impact on household income, continue “over a long period of time,” and cannot be bypassed through alternative funding channels.

According to Gardos, benefits that could be cut under a sanctions regime for draft dodgers include daycare subsidies, yeshiva stipends, discounts on National Insurance Institute payments, housing subsidies, and property tax discounts.