The Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee convened on Tuesday to discuss the recruitment law presented last week by Defense Minister Yisrael Katz.
Deputy Attorney General Gil Limon who attended the meeting, slammed the law, saying that Katz’s plan to recruit 50% of bnei yeshivos within seven years is not enough to meet the army’s needs and the Attorney-General’s office will knock down the law as “illegal.”
Committee chairman Yuli Edelstein (Likud) sharply criticized Limon’s comments, saying that the Attorney-General will invalidate any law the government formulates.
The head of the IDF’s Personnel Directorate, Maj. Gen. Dado Bar Kalifa, spoke, saying: “If you tell me tomorrow morning to recruit the entire Chareidi community, I’ll tell you that I need time to build facilities, staff, and more. On the other hand, if you give me time, I will conquer Yemen.”
“We are making an enormous effort. I am convinced that as we progress and succeed in recruiting our Chareidi brothers, they will enlist with us. What we are preparing for them will enable successful recruitment. We have invested millions, tremendous resources, and will expand as needed.”
Bar Kalifa demanded “more effective” sanctions against Chareidim, saying: “We will need much more effective sanctions that affect the individual so that it will really make an impact.”
The meeting became very heated when Yesh Atid MK Simon Davidson said:”I’ve already spoken about this to the head of the Education Committee – if in the context of a Chareidi draft law, we don’t do serious work regarding the issue of the chinuch of Chareidi children, we won’t accomplish what we want.”
“Ultimately, when a child grows up in Chareidi society and his parents were not in the army and his siblings were not in the army, and in school he doesn’t learn about citizenship, Zionism, the Israeli flag, nor the meaning of the IDF – he will reach the age of 18 and he won’t want to serve in the IDF even if it’s imposed on him.”
Shas MK Yinon Azulai immediately reacted and cried out: “You want to influence our chinuch! That is exactly the problem we are arguing about here, that you want to influence the chinuch of Chareidi children.”
Davidson responded: “Definitely, definitely, definitely (we want to influence Chareidi chinuch).”
When Azulai responded: “we won’t let you harm our children’s education,” the conversation turned into shouts and screams, with another Yesh Atid MK screaming that “Chareidi children are harming the education of secular children” by not serving in the IDF, and called Chareidim “parasites.”
UTJ MK Yaakov Asher said: “There are people sitting around this table who don’t want a solution to the problem but to perpetuate the problem in order to bring down the government and harm the Chareidi public.”
Asher added: “Threats of sanctions against children who have been educated since the day they were born that the Torah is what protects the people of Israel will not shake their emunah.”
Following the meeting, Katz spoke in the Knesset plenum, saying that he wants to preserve the Olam HaTorah but at the same time, called for sanctions against all yeshivos and individuals.
“In a few decades, the Chareidim will be a third of the country’s population,” he said. “We must ensure that they are integrated into significant security service and the economy of the State of Israel. For me, there are two principles – the first is significant military recruitment to the IDF. The second is maintaining the Olam HaTorah. It is a tremendous endeavor which, in my eyes, is part of our being a Jewish state with connection and tradition. Both things are important. There is an opportunity here to create a broad consensus. I announced in the committee that if I see during the legislation that I cannot achieve one of the two goals – I will stop the legislation.”
“Every year, there will need to be compliance with targets set by the committee, not in a few years. There will be sanctions on the institutions. Even if some of the yeshivos meet the target, all the yeshivos will be sanctioned if they do not meet the targets together. Additionally, an individual who does not study and does not serve – I will impose sanctions on them. Anyone who claims they can recruit 100% of the Chareidim – please go ahead and recruit. The law allows it today. But today, we are not even meeting the target of 4,800.”
“The real chance to create a turning point and revolution regarding recruitment is through agreement and dialogue. This is a moment of opportunity that has not existed in the past. There is also something astonishing – Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Mira refuses to speak to me about the recruitment law,” Katz concluded.
Edelstein announced later that the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee will resume work on the Chareidi draft law next week.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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6 Responses
Bottom line is, he hates שומרי תורה ומצות and he’s willing to do anything to destroy it.
Such a person is not one that we need as a member of the Jewish tribe. Hopefully he will do teshuva.
THE TRUTH IS OUT: “…we don’t do serious work regarding the issue of the chinuch of Chareidi children, we won’t accomplish what we want…” THE FIRST THING THEY WANT IS TO SECULARISE CHAREIDY CHILDREN HASHEM YERACHEM!
“…through agreement and dialogue. This is a moment of opportunity that has not existed in the past…” Hopes you have – OUR GEDOLIM MADE IT CLEAR: NOTHING TO TALK ABOUT!!! THERE IS NO MOMENT OF OPPORTUNITY
The truth is there are a lot of young men abusing the system. Whom are not learning or doing anything chareidi. Those are the ones who should be in the army. It will teach them responsibility as well.
Just tell the Roshei yeshiva your plan for chareidi chinuch hatikva no shema yisroel tell uri Zohar too and don’t let the door hit you on the way out
We just read last week “hava nischakma lo”. The wicked Egyptians did so then, and the far more wicked Zionists are doing so now, as they have been for over a century.
All the gedolim have been warning for over a century that Zionism is shmad. Anyone with half a brain could see that now, but it was obvious to them even then. Rav Chaim Brisker noted that people think that the Zionists shmad because they want to get a State, but the truth is the opposite: they need a State in order to shmad.
The true parasites are the heretical and wicked Zionists who invaded the holy land against the wishes of the chareidim, have shnorred – and continue to shnorr – billions of dollars from Jews worldwide for their idol “State” and its endless wars (also as the gedolim warned would happen), and the Zionists now seek the destruction of the chareidim by forcing them to convert from Judaism to Zionism.
As the Chazon Ish noted, one day we will wake up to discover that the Zionist “State” simply no longer exists. The more the Zionists fight (G-d and) the Torah and its adherents, the sooner the Zionists will force that day to come.
The Chardei MK in turn should have responded that we need to change the secular chinuch to explain the importance of torah learning .. tic for tac. Of course wont be interested as he has an agenda, but play the same game.