Smotrich indicates support for targeted sanctions against Haredi draft dodgers

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says that the status quo in which ultra-Orthodox men do not serve in the army “will not continue,” telling reporters that he will work to “promote frameworks and programs that will allow the Haredim who enlist in the army to remain Haredim” by meeting their religious needs, and that a conscription law “tailored to the needs of the State of Israel” will be passed during the Knesset summer legislative session.

Asked if he would support a bill containing personal sanctions against draft dodgers, Smotrich replies that he supports a bill containing “significant enforcement tools to ensure that it is not empty of content. Including in this matter.”

Speaking at a conference organized by the right-wing Besheva newspaper earlier today, Smotrich endorsed Defense Minister Israel Katz’s plan to gradually increase the number of ultra-Orthodox men conscripted by the army while still allowing many to continue studying full-time in yeshiva.

“There will be a conscription law, with a target of 50 percent conscription within seven years, accompanied by sanctions and enforcement. The Haredi leadership will give it legitimacy, and the army will finally start conscripting,” Smotrich said, according to the Israel National News site.

Katz, who also supports coming to terms with a rabbinic leadership that has strongly ruled out military service for its followers, has pushed for a plan under which the number of Haredim drafted into the military would be increased gradually year-over-year until it hits 50 percent of the annual eligible Haredi draft cohort in 2032.

Last week, Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Likud MK Yuli Edelstein asserted that the panel he heads is nearing a final draft of a law regulating ultra-Orthodox enlistment. He has rejected Katz’s approach as insufficient, instead signing a declaration of principles calling for mass mobilization of Haredi men as well as the imposition of “personal and financial sanctions” on those who fail to obey draft orders.

Speaking with Radio Kol Barama this morning, Culture Minister Miki Zohar said that “Haredim should continue to study Torah” and argued that public anger over Haredim not serving was limited “those who do not study Torah and do not go into the army.”

“If there is no conscription law, the entire upcoming election campaign will revolve around the conscription law. If there is no law, it will be very bad for our public in general and the Haredi public in particular,” Zohar stated.