A nine-justice panel of the High Court on Tuesday morning failed to reach a decision pertaining to the Tal Law, which permits pushing off military service to learn in beis medresh. The court is expected to hand down a ruling on a petition challenging the legitimacy of the law.
The court in Tuesday’s hearing accused state agencies of “foot-dragging’ adding it would not hand down a ruling today, but will grant additional time to ascertain if a change in the current situation can be implemented regarding the military service of the chareidi community.
Court President Justice Dorit Beinish exclaimed that she views herself among those who view with disdain the lack of progress, the failure to reach an understanding that will increase the number of inductees from the chareidi community, or alternatively, undertaking a form of community service recognized as a ‘sheirut leumi’.
For the time being, the validity of the Tal Law continues, permitting yeshiva and rabbinical students to continue their studies and defer military service.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
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2 Responses
As if the Israeli government wants more Hareidi soldiers???
They don’t even trust the ones they have. Unless the Israeli army was willing to “do tsuvah” any significant number of Hareidim would be unabsorbable, leading to a breakdown in discipline and undermining military effectivness.
They don’t even fully trust the “dati” (kipah srugah) types – just compare the percentage of them in combat units from which senior leaders are drawn, and the number of Shomer Shabbos chief of staff.
Comment #1 is complete nonsense. The soldiers in the Nachal Hareidi units have performed admirably, to say the least, and received full recognition as such. They have proven their value, and nobody denies it. Furthermore, the members of the unit are quite positive about their service.
Of course there has not been a religious CGS until now. At the time that such people went into the military, the number of kiopot srugot soldiers remaining in keva was relatively small–nowhere near today’s numbers. Most of today’s generals were drafted in the 1970s–a time when few datiim remained in keva beyond the rank of major. However, with changing demogaphics, it is only a matter of time.