Ultra-Orthodox army draft bill passes first reading, on second try

A bill that would lower the exemption age of ultra-Orthodox community members being drafted into mandatory military and national service has passed its first Knesset reading, two weeks after the coalition failed to muster enough support for a similar measure to overcome a tie.

Ultra-Orthodox lawmakers heckle Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, after the proposal passes 51 to 48, calling out “shame on you.”

“There’s no such thing as rights without obligations. We all have a responsibility for the fate of the country,” says Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, who had long pushed for legislation to regulate the drafting of ultra-Orthodox into the military or civilian volunteer programs.

The bill must pass two more readings before becoming law.

In August, ministers approved the new draft plan, under which the exemption age would be lowered to 21 from the current 24 for ultra-Orthodox Israelis. Many yeshiva students are thought to remain in religious study programs longer than they normally would in order to dodge the draft by claiming academic deferments until they reach the age of exemption. By lowering the exemption age, the government hopes to spur those Haredi men to leave the yeshiva and enter the workforce at a younger age.

But two weeks ago, a bid to pass the measure in the Knesset failed, when Meretz MK Ghaida Rinawie Zoabi voted against it, in protest against government policies toward Negev Bedouin. This time she voted with the coalition, “after reaching understandings.”

Opposition member Yoav Kisch had threatened to show up to vote despite being positive for the coronavirus, until coalition whip Idit Silman agreed to abstain to offset his absence.

The Haredi population of Israel overwhelmingly opposes performing mandated national civil or military service, seeing it as a way for external forces to potentially draw away its members. Some extreme elements in the Haredi community have protested violently against military conscription.