MK (Bayit Yehudi) Moti Yogev during a meeting of the Shaked Committee warned the inclusion of criminal sanctions at the insistence of Yesh Atid will enlist the chareidim to protest, not into the IDF as hoped.

While Yesh Atid members are celebrating their success after the bill was completed by the committee and is now heading to the Knesset, Yogev, a retired IDF colonel is not pleased at all. Yogev fought the entire time against Elazar Stern (The Movement) and Ofir Shelach (Yesh Atid) to protect hesder and chareidi yeshivos, fearing the bill as it stands now will result in more damage than gain.

In addition to objections over the criminal sanctions, Yogev says the curtailing of service for men from 36 to 32 months is also problematic. Yogev explains that this component of the bill was also at the behest of Yesh Atid, explaining it is a step in the direction of equality. Yogev points out there are going to be problems. He explains that the military will be shorthanded for combat personnel and it will have to sign up some of those men for a four-month ‘standing army’ contract that will be costly, asking if Finance Minister Yair Lapid is going to cough up the funding for this component of the equality law.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)