From the Liveblog of
Thursday, May 4, 2023
Mothers push strollers bearing coffins in protest outside IDF Induction Center
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleJeremy Sharon is The Times of Israel’s legal affairs and settlements reporter
A group of women from the “Mothers on the Frontlines” organization take baby carriages mounted with small coffins draped with Israeli flags to the IDF’s Induction Center at Tel Hashomer and place them outside the base.
The women march toward the base chanting demands for equality in military service, in reference to the government’s plans to re-legislate laws previously struck down by the High Court of Justice giving ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students blanket exemptions from IDF military service.
מיצג חזק ומצמרר של אמהות בחזית היום:
יש בישראל אמהות חרדיות שישנות טוב בלילה ויש אמהות חרדות שיודעות מרגע הלידה שהן יצטרכו לשלוח את הילדים שלהן לצבא.המיצג והמסר האלו נוגעים לי בנקודה כואבת, כאמא לנער בן 17 שאמור להתגייס בעוד שנה לצבא. pic.twitter.com/uu4R8DLUMh
— ענבר בזק Inbar Bezek (@InbarBezek) May 4, 2023
The issue has been a source of division in Israeli society for decades, with opponents of the exemptions arguing that the arrangement for ultra-Orthodox men is profoundly discriminatory against all other Jewish men who are legally obligated to enlist in the IDF.
Today’s anti-government protests have been focused on themes of inequality of different forms in Israel, including draft inequality, as well as religious and gender inequality.
The Times of Israel Community.