24 Adar Alef 5774
From the Yeshiva World News website:
As Am Yisrael is about to mark 15 years since the unprecedented 1 million man protest against Israel’s Supreme Court organized by R’ Menachem Porush Z”L, Gedolei Yisrael Shlita have given the go-ahead for a million man atzeres against the new chareidi draft law.
The event will take place on Tuesday, 2 Adar 2 5774 to act publically against what HaGaon HaRav Aaron Yehuda Leib Shteinman Shlita called “an awful Chilul Hashem”, in his comments after hearing the Shaked Committee approved criminal sanctions.
Rav Shteinman’s immediate response was the atzeres is now required to act in the face of the horrific Chilul Hashem and he seems uninterested in the other factors, such as how the event will play out in the media.
It is clear from all the statements that there is no interest in or need of yeshiva students to participate in the army beyond that they be assimilated into Israeli culture and absorbed into the work force, so that those at the top can reap even more monetary gain.
They promise to accommodate the religious soldier and then go back on every one of them, because it is their aim to wean them away from Torah and observance. I would venture that the average religious young man who goes into the army comes out less religious in the end. I've seen it happen.
I was there fifteen years ago to demonstrate against the High Court of (IN)Justice and I plan to be there, G-d willing, next week. In the merit of achdut around Torah, may Hashem see fit to raise up our righteous Mashiach to lead us and to re-establish a real Jewish army like that of King David's!
Can you explain how there is no need for yeshiva students in the army?
ReplyDeleteAnd can you explain how the real goal is to attack Torah?
I hear these general accusations all the time but no specifics.
Israel - I read A LOT and I know these things from the horse's mouth, so to speak, from reading reports over the years. Just recently Bennet said bringing the chareidim into the army is not really the goal - the goal (apparently HIS goal) is that by so doing they will bring them into the work force after leaving the army and the economy will boom and fill everyone's pockets.
ReplyDeleteDo you ever ask why this war is davka against chareidim and not against ALL draft evaders? There are leftist university students who also avoid the draft.
The following puts it all into proper perspective. Please read the next comment...
Op-Ed: Does Israel Really Need a Compulsory Draft?
ReplyDeleteby MK Moshe Feiglin
The State of Israel is bickering over nothing. It is like a fight between a seller who has nothing to sell and a buyer who has no intention of buying.
...So the Right doesn't really want this compulsory draft and the Left doesn't, either.
More ridiculous is the fact that not only is the IDF not interested in this draft, but it really doesn't need it, either.
Drafting the Ultra-Orthodox en-masse will require the IDF to establish new frameworks and to adopt standards in which it is not interested. As far as not needing it, here are some statistics:
In 2006 the IDF presented the Ben Basat Commission established to investigate reduction of active service with the following numbers:
-Approximately 23% of men of draft age are not inducted into the army from the outset.
-18% of those drafted drop out of the army during their service.
For all practical purposes, the compulsory induction law applies to only 59% of Israel's young men.
According to the Shefer Commission report, there are ten different types of arrangements with the army that shorten the soldiers' term of service. So of the 59% who enter the army, most do not serve the full 36 months of compulsory service.
In other words, in total contrast to the ethos of the "People's Army", less than one third of the men in every induction cycle truly bear the full burden of army service. This is without taking into account the fact that only a minority of those men are actual combat soldiers.
The gap between the myth of the People's Army and reality is even more pronounced in the reserves. In the year 2000, approximately 32,000 soldiers served the full period of reserve duty (26 days). This is only 4%(!) of all the men who could theoretically be serving in the army.
It is important to note that the IDF's elite units (Golani infantry, air force and navy) boast an over-abundance of volunteers to their ranks. In other words, our youth is highly motivated to serve in combat units.
The Compulsory Induction Law requires the IDF to draft everyone; even those it does not need and does not want.
The result is problematic in many ways:
Read the rest and in full Op-Ed: Does Israel Really Need a Compulsory Draft?
Are you sure there isn't an issue that only the chiloni are assuming the burden and the danger?
ReplyDeleteAnd why don't the charedim propose some kind of solution other than status quo, something like charedim directly joining work force? Are you saying the claims of free loading have no basis?
"Approximately 23% of men of draft age are not inducted into the army from the outset."
ReplyDeleteIs that the charedim?
Israel - True chilonim make up a minority of both the military as well as general society. The majority are traditional plus religious. I read recently that a majority of IDF officers are now religious. The Netzach Yehuda division set up exclusively for chareidi volunteers has grown every year since its inception.
ReplyDeleteIt is the government who imposed the burden on yeshiva students that they could not be employed while on an exemption from the military. It was designed to force them out of the yeshivas, but it didn't work because chareidi wives went to work. Now, however, they are determined to force religious women also into the army. That's coming down the road.
No one is "freeloading" off of the approximately $200 per month stipend yeshiva students get. While not paying income tax since they are unemployed, yeshiva students still have to pay into bituach leumi. Many employed non-chareidim also do not pay income tax because their salaries are so low. However, chareidim still pay arnona tax on housing and Value Added Tax on food and clothing for all members of their large families.
This is all to the best of my knowledge. I consider myself well-informed, but I'm no expert. Readers are invited to add their own comments if they know something different.
As to your second question about the 23%, it's not clear from the context, but my guess would be that it includes all sectors of society without distinction. I don't think chareidim make up 23% of the Israeli population.
I'll just add here that the power of the chiloni Ashkenazim in the State apparatus belies their numbers.
ReplyDeleteWhen my sons were in yeshiva, I had to pay for it each month. They did not receive anything. If money came from the government, then the yeshiva kept it. Maybe the tuition I paid was discounted accordingly. I just don't know, but they certainly weren't "freeloading" off of anyone, not even their parents!
ReplyDeleteThey deferred their army service for a time to learn and then one went to the army and the other didn't and we are not even chareidi!
Devash: Am glad you answered 'Israel'. He typifies many of Israel's secular and especially leftists, and even regular orthodox Jews. By reading Arutz 7 and the comments on this topic, most of those comments mirror Israel's comments. I have tried to make people aware that this whole enlistment charade of chareidim is just part of the new agenda to water down Judaism in Israel, and, of course, the chareidim stand out the most and the powers know that they are the hardest to break down. The goal is to make Israel, a country for all its citizens, r'l, and to deJudaize it. If this was a sincere desire to have the chareidim in their work force and in the IDF, why wasn't this an issue until the Yesh Atid Party appeared on the scene, with a phony leader of Bayit Yehudi, being his partner? Also, there are many complaints about the IDF not honoring the agreements made with the chareidim in the chareidi units. With the supreme court and other ministries going out of their way to harass not only the Jews of Yesh, but, the watering down the religiousity of the Rabbinate to go along with the marriage, divorce and conversions that are questionable are just some of the indicators of what's going on. Wishing great HATZLACHAH for this Rally.
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting, Anonymous.
ReplyDelete