There will be a protest beginning on Monday evening 27 Shevat ahead of the scheduled meeting on Tuesday 28 Shevat, with the latter to involve discussions surrounding new efforts to draft females into the IDF
A main issue of concern is that some members of the coalition want to replace rabbonim and dayanim with lay personnel on the committee which issues exemptions. That means if the IDF wishes, it will have the authority to reverse the decision to give a religious female a draft deferment.
In addition, there are mounting tensions in the coalition surrounding the drafting of females into combat units and placement of men and women combatants side-by-side.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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5 Responses
Instead of just sayin “no” to any proposal involving the IDF and growing political support for requiring some form of universal service, why don’t the organizers of these “protests” offer some ideas as to what my be acceptable? Why not, for example, require that young women who wish to claim a religious exemption from traditional military service in the IDF, instead must serve a year or two as a teaching assistant, nursing home intern, elder care provider or some similar public service job in frum mosdos where they would not be subject to the issues cited for opposing their being subject to the draft. The chareidi tzibur constantly whines that their mosdos are underfunded and cannot provide needed services. Requiring young men an women to engage in public service in lieu of the IDF draft would partially lighten their financial needs as well as addressing the unfair distribution of burdens across the frum and secular populations.
GH:
Great idea. I doubt that this idea will fly, even if proposed. There are two energies behind the current resistance.
One – anti-Zionist. Anything the medina does is automatically considered against Torah, whether one can truly justify it or not.
Two – too holy. There is a myth that anything besides full time investment in learning is somehow against the will of HKB”H. We have an entire Torah, both biksav and baal peh that refutes this myth. We have had tzaddikim, some of whom there are still those among us that remember them, that were completely clear that this full time learning is for some (and beyond praiseworthy), but not for all. For doubters, the gemora (Berachos 36b) tells us that הרבה עשו כרשב”י ולא עלתה בידם. Check that one out.
Meanwhile, I am not against protests, as long as they do not deteriorate into the realm of the Satan, and remain violence free. Once they become violent, I would have them all arrested and levied severe consequences. Israel cannot allow its citizens, who benefit greatly from its services and safety, be controlled by these animals who tout Torah as the basis for doing what vildeh chayos do.
The two comments above,Gadolhador ad Thelittle I know, show a lack of knowledge for what is actually going on, as well as a real hatred of the Chareidi community, for which you should really be ashamed.
FIRST of all, many many former yeshiva boys are serving in Sheirut Leumi,, and doing the services that you have mentioned. They are working in Yad Sarah, on ambulances of Mada as well as Hatzala and in other chesed organizations.
SECOND of all, the girls: No Jewish girl should be under the rule of the Army under any circumstances, even to instruct her to work in a hospital. While we cannot control what happens outside the Cheireidi community, we certainly have to fight in every way possible to keep them from gaining any control at all over our girls.
And by the way, maybe you think they need them in the Army or in Sheirut Leumi, but they don’t. There are plenty of Sheirut Leumi girls. The reason they want them in the army to begin with is to take them away from their parent’s homes as early as possible and to try to influence them to be like everyone else. To melt into the great melting pot of the State and thereby slowly loose their Chareidi identity and there goes the beautiful Jewish home. This is the goal of the army.
They can’t the purity and loyalty of the religious people in this country. Why are they putting women soldiers in the same units as the National Religious soldiers? They can’t stand their purity.
The Chazon Ish zt”l famously said that girls (even secular, by the way) were not to join any institution of the government as part of any form of service, even if that service was sewing tallis kotons for yeshiva bochurim. The concept is that girls are under the authority of the home and no other authority at all.
There are thousands of stories of serious harassment suffered by girls not only in IDF but in sherut leumi. Putting girls in the position of “I’m here to serve” – well, it should be obvious what the problem is with that, and unfortunately, it is all too obvious, for those who choose to see. For those who prefer not to see, nothing will help you.
The whole reason that they want girls/women in the army is for Shmad.
They just had a lady with a gun in Jenin under attack. Why didn’t she use the gun? Isn’t she a soldier?