There is a measure of irony in the fact that two senior cabinet ministers who were significant forces favoring sharing the burden legislation have now come out in support of Dalia Itzik in the former Knesset speaker’s bid to become Israel’s next president for she did not serve in the IDF.
According to Yesha Council Executive Director Adi Mintz, when Itzik finished high school she opted not to serve in the IDF and she was released from duty after declaring she was a Shomer Shabbos woman.
In his letter to the ministers Mintz writes, “Those who raised the banner of sharing the burden and the importance of military service would certainly wish to make certain the next president of the State of Israel, who must serve as a personal example, was among those to set an example to our young by serving in the IDF or at least national service”.
Mintz adds “You both also championed the issue of integrity among public servants and certainly you would not want to see one serving as the next president who lied to evade military service”.
Mintz points out that many girls in the dati leumi camp also declare they are frum but instead of IDF service they are in sheirut leumi to make a significant contribution to society nevertheless.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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6 Responses
This is all a farce, the plan is to vote for anyone that Bibi does not support.
What a loss if Rivlin should lose the vote due to stupidity?
Also lapid didn’t serve in IDF
They are only supporting her as a spoiler for Rivlin in the first round of voting. Nobody thinks that Itzik actually has a chance of winning. Even so – it is certainly ironic.
cousin sue – he did serve in the IDF and in reserve duty. He did not serve in a combat unit, but in a journalistic capacity.
Yair Lapid did serve in the IDF as a journalist for the army publication. This is what they call in Eretz Yisroel “jobnik”, which is a derogatory term used to describe noncombatant recruits who coast through their military service and drink coffee in an air-conditioned office. The chareidi MK should point out that Lapid is the least qualified to tell others to serve in the IDF given the type of service that he rendered.
If Dalia Itzik indeed lied about her observance to get out of military service and there is proof to this effect, why isn’t she brought before a military tribunal to be court marshalled?