Vice PM warns of backlash from overly drastic conscription law

Vice Prime Minister Moshe Ya’alon said Monday that the underlying ideas of the Plesner report were very good, but the goal now must be to establish basic military or national service conscription principles that would apply to all Israeli citizens, rather than specifically target the ultra-Orthodox or the Arab sectors of society.

Ya’alon, a former IDF Chief of General Staff, was appointed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to represent the Likud in drafting a new bill to replace the Tal Law, which enabled service deferments for ultra-Orthodox men and was ruled unconstitutional by the High Court of Justice in February. Together with Kadima MK Yohanan Plesner, Ya’alon is to base the bill on the conclusions of the dismantled Plesner Committee that were made public last week.

In an interview for Army Radio Monday, Ya’alon stressed that legislative solutions to the issue must be realistic. “We are talking about a drastic change in the reality, between what currently exists and what we want it to be, and that must be carried out gradually,” Ya’alon said. “The law must be practical for the army and for the national service [institutions], but also for the yeshivas that are also experiencing drastic change.”

Ya’alon noted that in the past several years Israel has seen a slow integration of the ultra-Orthodox into the military and national service, citing the Nahal Haredi military unit as an example. He warned that jumping directly from the draft deferments that have existed to  compulsory conscription at the age of 18 would create too strong of a backlash that would constitute a “double-edged sword.”

Ya’alon emphasized that the underlying principle which he and Plesner are attempting to establish is not one that relates specifically to the ultra-Orthodox or the Israeli Arabs, but rather one that is applicable to all Israeli citizens, no matter who they are. The goal, said Ya’alon, is legislation for a universal draft, for all Israeli citizens at the age of 18, with deferments possible based on individual considerations..

“It’s not a political question,” Ya’alon said. “It’s a question of what can be implemented.”

Following what was described as a “very positive” first meeting between Ya’alon and Plesner on Sunday, the two were meeting again on Monday to continue working toward the universal draft bill. Ya’alon and Plesner hope to complete the proposal and present it to the Ministerial Committee for Legislation by Wednesday.

Plesner and Ya’alon face contradictory demands from different factions within the coalition, and the task to draft a bill that will at the very least appease, if not be completely acceptable to all sides, is proving to be a daunting challenge.

There exist three primary points of contention which the new bill must overcome: the inclusion of Israeli Arabs in any legislation that goes into effect in the coming weeks, the draft age being set at 18 for everybody, without exception, and the issue of personal sanctions against those who do not register to serve in either a military or national civilian capacity.

Yisrael Beytenu head Avigdor Liberman has stated repeatedly that his party will not vote for any legislation that does not include equal service for ultra-Orthodox and Israeli Arabs. Next Sunday, MK Michael Ben-Ari (National Union) will lead a protest in the Arab city of Nazareth also demanding that Israeli Arabs participate in national service. Liberman and Ben-Ari are among many MKs who have also objected to ultra-Orthodox draft deferments, which the Plesner Committee recommended, allowing deferments until the age of 22 (down from 28, the age stipulated in the Tal Law).

Ultra-Orthodox leaders, who have long opposed a universal draft and the lowering of the number of yeshiva deferments, are particularly concerned about the individual sanctions that could be levied against any yeshiva students who do not register for either the draft or national service. Moreover, they object to the threat of budgetary sanctions against yeshivas that support and harbor draft-dodgers.