While Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has expressed satisfaction with the Tal Law, the law that permits chareidim to continue learning and delay or avoid IDF service, Defense Minister Ehud Barak called it a failure. Barak stated that when the law was implemented a decade ago there were hopes that chareidim would join the military after committing a number of years of study but those numbers do not reflect a success.
Barak is calling to extend the law for only one year, during which time he feels the government will have to address the current situation and a plan for the future, to modify the law towards bringing more members of the chareidi community into the IDF or a form of national service.
Barak told yeshiva students during an address that this is true regarding all Israeli, secular and chareidi alike, that those not suited for military service must find a place in a form of national service. He feels this must hold true for Israeli Arab citizens as well.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu wants the law extended, obviously seeking to avoid a confrontation with chareidi coalition partners as the country begins feeling election fever in the air. Barak is willing to extend the current law for one year, during which time he feels the parameters of the law must be amended.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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4 Responses
Yet note that the army has made it clear that soldiers are not allowed to follow halacha once in the army. This admits that the purpose behind those who favor conscription is not the defense of Israel, but rather the destruction of Yiddishkeit.
Would anyone want to speculate as to whether Mr. Barak is a secret agent from Neturei Karta? He seems intent on forcing as many Orthodox Jews as possible to admit that Neturei Karta’s was right all along.
If they want frum Jews in the army, they would order the army to follow halacha. For example, make the laws of “negiaha” and “yihud” mandatory throughout the army (and yes, it would require many of the male officers to give a “perq” that we can’t talk about). As we saw from the incident involving “Kol Isha” (something analagous to sending away the mother before killing the baby bird – one of the easiest mitzvas to observer), that army has no interest in TOLERATING (much less in accepting) frum Jews.
Well, they should be careful what they ask for. If there were a sudden influx of Charedim, the army would have to adjust to a “new normal.”
from pc es: my opinion is that barak is was and will always be a failure
Barak is a very capable defense minister due to his military background. A careful reading of his comments, without the hysteria, reveals that he feels that those who are not fit for military duty, either physically or by religious belief, should do some form of national service. What’s wrong with that?