In his weekly report to supporters Yesh Atid party leader Finance Minister Yair Lapid reports 28,000 chareidim will receive a draft deferment this year. This will permit them to join the national workforce. He explains these people will no longer have to remain in yeshivos to avoid the draft, but they may now join the working class of the country.
In three years, Lapid is confident that over 70% of the chareidi population will be serving in the IDF or an approved national service. He boasted the new law will set a ceiling on the number of chareidim permitted to continue learning, 1,800 annually. Lapid cites that statistics show that following military service, 87% of chareidi veterans are successful in joining the workforce.
Lapid added that Yesh Atid remains committed to the “peace process” and he recently met with US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapira along with President Obama’s Mideast advisor, Phil Gordon, explaining “there is one thing the president (Barak Obama) can do, and that is the release of Jonathan Pollard”.
Lapid states the resumptions of talks with the PA (Palestinian Authority) will not be easy, but his party remains committed to this process. “The opponents may remain cynical but the new politics is a reality” he adds, stating his party of 19 votes remains committed to the diplomatic process with the PA as he cited during the election as well as during the coalition talks.
Lapid met with representatives of bereaved families, reporting “they did not try to persuade me against the release of terrorists.” He describes the difficult meeting and how “these people you want to hug”.
“My first commitment remains to preventing future victims. It is true that no one guarantees us that the talks will succeed. It is also true there have been many painful failures in the past but we may not stop trying.”
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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10 Responses
Lapid is confident he can break the hareidi community. He has history on his side. The Russians followed similar strategies as Lapid embraces, and did manage to significantly reduce their “Jewish problem” – today there are only a handful of Jews in Russia, and only a small minority are Shomer Mitsvos. Lapid, Bennett and their ilk have similar hopes to resolve the “Hareidi problem”.
Maybe one of the 1800 iluyim can take mr lapid aside and teach him a very simple lesson: esav sonei yaakov. period. Peace talks will never succeed with murderers.
Initially Netanyahu seemed to be trying to use Pollard as a quid pro quo bargaining chip: If Pollard gets released by the U.S., then we will consider setting some Palestinian prisoners free. Instead, he leaves the prisoner item up to a vote by a Knesset committee, of which he is a voting member(!), and a whole slew of murderers are ok’d to be freed. (None are Israeli Arabs, now don’t you feel much better?)…And this article creates the suggestion that now, Pollard is instead being used as a Pawn in a very dangerous game: If you release Pollard, we will negotiate for peace (read that “pieces”). If that would EVER HAPPEN, we would have a few proud Israeli top-dogs congratulating themselves as the heroes of the century, “peace” talks and compromises will begin, and we all go down!!! This is the worst kind of shtick, and I don’t know if Pollard could be considered “in the loop” enough to get what is going on, but I suddenly hope he is, and refuses to be released! Incidentally, a second definition of “quid pro quo” just happens to be: blackmail. Yup.
““My first commitment remains to preventing future victims. It is true that no one guarantees us that the talks will succeed. It is also true there have been many painful failures in the past but we may not stop trying”
keep on hitting that brick wall (the kosel?) Yair, you’re bound to get hurt sooner or later
What a tipish and a shoteh. His first commitment is to preventing future victims? Is that why he wants to release 104 terrorists? This jerk has just got to go!
Its funny to hear the term x-year plan. Just ask stalin and mao how it worked out for them.
Lapid will make the next purim
רשע בן רשע
i think we need a 3 state sollution. palestine , israel, and eretz yisrael.
Good idea Israel was suppose to be uganda