Travel bans and the end of tax breaks: Edelstein’s Haredi conscription bill proposes consequences for draft dodgers

A draft of an ultra-Orthodox conscription bill presented to lawmakers today by outgoing Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Yuli Edelstein calls for the immediate application of sanctions on draft dodgers, including the revocation of drivers’ licenses and bans on international travel.

Edelstein presented a copy of his proposed version of the controversial legislation to lawmakers just before the Knesset House Committee is set to vote on replacing him with fellow Likud MK Boaz Bismuth as chairman of the powerful security panel.

The bill would require all Haredi men to report for registration at an IDF enlistment center and undergo a fitness test before receiving a service deferral. Such deferrals would only be granted to those who study 45 hours a week in a yeshiva or 40 hours in a kollel — a yeshiva for married men.

If five percent of those designated for the draft at a given yeshiva do not show up when called or if the yeshiva dean issues instructions not to report, the yeshiva will be removed from the list of institutions whose students are eligible to receive deferrals. Any yeshiva that encourages evasion will lose its tax status under section 46 of the Income Tax Ordinance, which allows financial supporters to receive tax credits for their donations.

According to Edelstein’s revision, 5,760 Haredim would be required to enlist in the first year following the bill’s passage, rising to 6,840 in the second year, 7,920 in the third, 9,000 in the fourth and 9,500 in the fifth. After the fifth year, the number of conscripts would be determined by the defense minister with the approval of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, but would not fall below 9,500.

Draft dodgers would be subject to sanctions including the revocation of drivers’ licenses, a ban on flying abroad, a prohibition on applying for civil service jobs, no government assistance in purchasing an apartment and cancellations of discounts on public transportation, National Insurance contributions and electricity bills. Daycare subsidies for children of draft dodgers would be cut in half.

If annual conscription targets are not met, all daycare subsidies would be canceled, and state housing benefits and property tax discounts would be revoked, among other penalties. Should the Haredi community fail to meet its quotas for three years in a row, the government would be required to submit a new bill.

The legislation would also impose sanctions on institutions that fail to meet recruitment targets, with anything less than 95% of the target triggering budget cuts for yeshivas.