The Jerusalem District Court Justice Noam Solberg rejected a request from 24-year-old Yaniv Harel, who is seeking to extend his passport towards completing medical school studies in Columbia University. He request was rejected because he is officially listed as a draft evader by the IDF.
Harel was born and raised in Beersheva and left Israel at the age of 12, together with his parents. They returned but Yaniv left again at the age of 17, ignoring his IDF service, now listed as a draft evader.
Harel was pre-med in Columbia, and he applied to extend his passport via the Israeli Consulate, which forwarded his request to the Interior Ministry. The ministry rejected the request since he is listed as a draft dodger. He was stunned by the response, believing his request was a formality, and explains he even tried to reach agreement, stating upon completion of his medical training he would volunteer as a physician in the IDF, willing to sign on as a career army physician. His offer was rejected.
He then turned to the court, stating he does not feel the minister of the interior has the right to link his request to military service. The ministry responded angrily, stating he and his family left “in the heart of the Second Intifada” while his friends were entering the IDF, but he opted to do otherwise.
The court ruled the ministry is well within its right to link renewal of a passport with one’s compliance with the law demanding one fulfill one’s requirements to the security of the nation.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
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4 Responses
This means that Hareidim (other than the handful of men who serve in the army, and the few if any women who do) can be denied passports, and if a Hareidi holding Israeli citizenship leaves Israel they can lose their passport. Indeed, if the opinion is correct, it would be a legal basis for authorizing the round up and expulsion of Hareidim.
Of course this leaves them stateless, and if they have legally entered the United States, allows them to apply for refugee status (which leads in many cases to a “green card”).
It also establishes a precedent to strip a majority of Israeli Arabs of Israeli citizenship.
While the Israeli Supreme Court has never liked frum Jews, they are unlikely to go along with with the lower court judge said, since it would be a very radical step politically.
Of course this leaves them stateless
I’m fairly certain that loss of a passport does not render one stateless. My kids and my mother don’t have passports, but they’re still U.S. citizens.
The Wolf
# 1 This has nothing to do with chareidem,this guy didn’t have a student exempt and he just left the country. If someone is in yeshiva and that’s an exemption he will have no issues.
Yidden should not be leaving ‘eretz yisro’el anyways, in this case the state is just sending a message from H’. There are no good medical programs in ‘eretz yisro’el that he should have to go to Columbia?