There is still no law on the books to replace the Tal Law, providing a draft deferment for chareidim. As such, the Ministry of Defense in the coming days, beginning in September 2012, plans to send draft notices to 7,500 chareidim, talmidim in yeshivos ages 17 and 18. They will be compelled to report to their area induction center to begin the induction process.
According to the report in the daily Haaretz, the notices are being sent to candidates expected to begin serving in 2013, representing 13% of the draft notices sent for the entire year of 2013.
Prior to the expiration of the Tal Law, recipients of draft notices reported to an induction center as a formality, to sign a declaration that they are continuing with their limud Torah. This no longer applies and today, they will be expected to report and begin processing to determine their physical and psychological profiles towards determining their profile rating and appropriate military service.
Haaretz quotes the Office of the IDF Spokesman as saying that due to the decision handed down by the High Court of Justice, the IDF is acting within the framework of the law, drafting all eligible citizens in line with the policy of the IDF and government.
Gedolei Yisrael refer to the new situation as the “gezeira” and Maran HaGaon HaRav Aaron Leib Shteinman Shlita has called for increased limud and tefilos.
Rabbonim shlita have also instructed anyone reporting to a draft center to only provide basic information, such as one’s name, and not to sign any documents, explaining this may demand mesirus nefesh on the part of recipients of draft notices.
HaGaon HaRav Chaim Kanievsky Shlita stated that if such a day arrives, he will personally escort the talmidim to jail.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
3 Responses
I wonder if the melodrama accompanying this study isn’t a bit overdone. The IDF has a rather constant “order of forces,” meaning that the 7500 draft notices don’t mean a larger army next year but rather a larger pool of candidates for the army as it is sized today. When it assesses candidates, the IDF excludes those it considers unsuitable on physical or, say, troublemaking grounds. This is one tactic that ultra-leftists use to get out. Sullen and stonewalling yeshiva students who lack all general education will easily join that club, if that’s the club they wish to belong to.
Naftush – While the IDF certainly has an “order of forces” that OF is determined by several factors, not the least of which is available manpower. In the field, the current OF is streched to the breaking point, while the challenges and tasks continue to grow (i.e., Egypt, Hizballah, probably Gaza & west bank, possibly Syria). The IDF’s field/combat forces are considerably smaller than they were 30 years ago (particularly in tanks and artillery), and must be regrown.
As the charedi population has grown, b”h ken yirbu, and charedi boys now constitute a large and growing part of each ‘draft year’, it is increasingly apparent that some of the growth of the OF is going to have to come from the charedi tzibbur.
Draftees with low motivation and intelligence are, indeed, not good candidates for field/combat duty. You are, therfore, perfectly correct in assuming that most yungeliet who wish to evade meaningful service in the IDF will be able to do so. However, the IDF believes that there are many Charedim who – whether because they are not well suited to the beit midrash or because they wish to take part in the physical (as well as spiritual) defence of of Israel – wish to serve in the IDF and are seeking legitimacy to do so. From statements made by IDF officers it looks like the IDF hopes and plans for roughly 2000 motivated charedi soldiers a year within 5 years. The rest are expected to serve in Sherut Leumi or to evade (or be exempted from) service altogether.
The army could end up finding a way of exempting all who really don’t want to serve in the army, or whose willingness to obey orders is suspect. That is probably what many of the professional soldiers favor, and would result in actually drafting only those kids who really have no desire to learn full time and would exclude anyone who would be a problem. However the hiloni politicians are counting on mass conscription in order to help stop the posing “demographic” challenge of a growing hareidim population that is threatening to take over the country by sheer numbers.