Chareidi lawmakers and askanim tried to warn Naftali Bennett and his colleagues that seeking to compel bnei yeshivos to serve in the IDF will result in fewer chareidim serving in the military. It appears that this is the case as plans to establish a new Nachal Chareidi Battalion have been abandoned amid a sharp decline in chareidi enlistment.
The weekly Hashavua writes that the IDF Personnel Branch made the decision to abandon the planned new battalion as they simply do not have the numbers that that had last year. “They are barely managing to keep the existing battalion going” the article quotes MK Ariel Atias stating.
So it appears that Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennett may have had the last word, but the chareidi tzibur is responding with actions, not words.
The situation for military officials is worrisome; fearing all that has been accomplished vis-à-vis chareidi induction over the past decade will be lost. So much so an urgent meeting was held this week of the Knesset Foreign Affairs & Defense Committee Subcommittee on Manpower in the IDF. Instead of addressing the reality that the chareidi leaders warned would following the draft law, the committee decided to address their concerns over harassment against chareidim that wish to enlist but face difficulties at home or in their community.
The subcommittee contacted Education Ministry’s Amos Tzeida, who deals with torani schools, wishing to confirm that he is holding back funds for yeshivos that are problematic. The committee members were told that the ministry cannot assist in dealing with isolated cases of harassment as it can only take action if it learns a sector of yeshiva acts against soldiers. Only then can it hold back funds.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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8 Responses
They are only cutting off their nose to spite their face
The issue of harassment will go away since those in question may start requesting an early discharge, and in any event won’t be replaced as their communities stop encouraging enlistment. In addition, they may need to worry about the loyalty of those hareidim who joined when their communities were encouraging baal ha-battim (as yeshiva drop-outs are eventually called) to serve.
וקרני רשעים …
This will change with time, there will be an increase.
The headline is misleading. It should read:As a result of the effort to draft Chareidim, fewer CHOOSE to serve. In other words, the reason fewer Chareidim are serving has to do with their choices – not the effort to draft them.
An equivalent (in terms of cause and effect) would be if the congress made new laws against marijuana and the seattle community started targeting congress members to kill. “As a result of drug laws congressman dies” would be the similar headline.
Israel, will start to pay higher salaries to existing soldiers to serve more years. They will also enlist more women into computer and intelligence corps. This will come out of the Charedi budget. Then what?
To many Jews, suport for the yeshivos was part of their social contract with Israel. Remove that, and their support disappears.
Seems as if support is increasing to all quarters, the IDF dinners are over packed, the Adopt a Kollel is growing, donations to Kiruv, Hospitals and Yishuvim is continuing unabated.