The Shaked Committee on Tuesday 6 Shevat 5774 studied a proposal that would permit chareidim who do not serve in the IDF to serve in the Mossad Intelligence Agency, the ISA (Israel Security Agency – Shin Bet) or the President’s Residence.
According to the proposal, chareidim are entitled to report to an induction center at age 18 and declare they wish to continue limud Torah. At age 22 they are compelled to enter the IDF. If the IDF opts not to draft a potential inductee, he will then be referred to an accredited national service. The proposal calls for including a civilian-security option such as service in the Mossad or Shin Bet. Other options would include Israel Police, fire, Magen David Adom, Environmental Police, Israel Prison Authority, and the Ministry of Public Security.
In the civilian track, agencies would include Homefront Defense, Bituach Leumi, the Knesset, President’s Residence, local government and the judicial system.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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5 Responses
Let’s not forget the notion that Torah learning is our national protection and sword. Civilian-security options should include Torah learning. To say that national service consists only of the military option or the civilian track defined as Homefront Defense, Bituach Leumi, Knesset, President’s Residence or local government is apikorsus.
1. If the army is still attempting to conscript yeshiva students, and throwing people in jail for refusing, they couldn’t trust any hareidim in sensitive positions in which they could seriously hurt the state if they were disloyal. You can’t trust your life to someone if you are also throwing his brother in jail.
2. Frum Jews would be worthless as spies since they would have trouble passing for anything other than frum Jews. You can’t really be an undercover hasid.
3. Much of what the Mossad does (and to a lesser extent, the Shin Bet) involves tremendous shailohs. While most modern Orthodox will accept the view that if the government says it is alright to murder someone (just an example, tearing down people’s houses is also problematic), most hareidim will ask a shailoh, and they are not going to ask a shailoh to their commanding officer or the government’s rabbi but to an independent posek. An ethical secret police is an oxymoron.
#2: You have a very poor understanding of intelligence agencies.
The vast majority of their employees are NOT secret agent spies like in the movies. They are analysts sitting at computers in offices.
#2,
You are sooo uninformed.
#4- I fully understand such operations. Sitting at a computer you can do plenty of damage if you want to. Ask the NSA about Mr. Snowden (who wasn’t even a trusted employee – he was a mere contractor).
Ask how hard it would be for an office worker in the Shin Bet to tip off some settlers about a pending raid on their settlement (its not just anti-zionists who you want to keep away from sensitive information, it’s also “hardal” types who may act hareidi but fundamentally reject Israeli policy on the West Bank).
And since the hilonim can’t the difference between one hareidi and another, between a Satmar and a hardal, between a yeshivish and a hasidische, etc., if they can’t trust one, they can’t trust any.