Letter from Tel Aviv:The Knesset Is Evading The Draft

By 2020, 25% of 18-year-olds will evade military service under the aegis of yeshiva studies. The significance is clear: Later, they will also be absent from the workforce.

The Knesset is evading the draft
By Shahar Ilan • Ha'aretz

In 1988, the High Court of Justice rejected yet another petition against the arrangement whereby yeshiva students postpone military service. But justice Aharon Barak warned that the number of those receiving deferments was significant, because "the quantity determines the quality." Justice Miriam Ben-Porat warned that in the future, the number of those receiving deferments would create "justification for the intervention of this court." 

At that time, there were about 18,000 such deferments. Today there are 55,000. 

Last Tuesday, the High Court revisited the deferment issue, which has meanwhile morphed into the Tal Law. "Almost an entire society does not bear a central burden," Justice Elyakim Rubinstein wrote. That did not stop the High Court from granting another extension, of 15 months, to see whether societal change might not suddenly occur that would cause the Haredim (ultra-Orthodox) to enlist in the army. 

The High Court ruling is also disheartening in light of statements made by the head of the Israel Defense Forces' planning and human resources administration, Col. Tziki Sela, to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee a year ago. "We need the Haredim in military service," he said, explaining that if all 5,000 - the number that receive deferments each year - were to join, it would release the entire reserve force from operational duties such as patrols and manning checkpoints. He called this matter "a clear national need." 

The severity of the problem can be seen in the report the IDF gave recently to the team that monitors enforcement of the Tal Law. The report predicted that in 2020, some 25 percent of 18-year-olds will evade military service under the aegis of yeshiva studies. The significance is clear: Later, they will also be absent from the work force. The low rate of work force participation among Haredi men is nudging the economy toward the Third World. Thus Haredi draft evasion is changing from a moral problem of discrimination to a strategic problem that threatens to damage our national resolve and cause the economy to collapse. 

Still, it is hard not to sympathize with the High Court. It is not easy for it to make the decision that should be made - to draft the ultra-Orthodox - thereby bringing about a rift in the nation. 

The Knesset is also evading the problem. The Tal Committee tried to solve it by means of a nonconfrontational, gradual process. But instead of taking advantage of this solution, the ultra-Orthodox, the IDF and the Finance Ministry joined forces - each for its own reasons - to cause the Tal Law to fail. Thus they wasted a precious decade. The fledgling civilian service and enlistment programs for Haredim are nothing more than a drop in the ocean of draft evasion. 

There is no longer any choice but to set a cap on deferments. Those who are not included in the quota can make arrangements like those available in the religious Zionist community: They can go to hesder yeshivas, whose students do partial service, or a premilitary yeshiva program that allows participants to defer their service for two years. Yeshivas and yeshiva students that do not join this arrangement would not receive state funding. The ultra-Orthodox say proudly that they can get along on donations and do without government handouts. Let's see them do it. 

This is neither a dream nor a fantasy. The political system has proven that it is capable of coming to its senses in times of trouble. That is what happened when it decided to drastically cut child allowances - a decision that seemed impossible a decade ago. All that needs to be done is to once again establish a coalition controlled by the secular and religious Zionist factions, like the second Ariel Sharon government. 

Sooner or later it will happen - because the future of the state and Zionism depend on it. The question is how much damage will be done to our national resolve and our economy before that time arrives. 

The author is deputy director general for research and public relations of Hidush, an association to promote equality and freedom of religion.

Comments

[paul]

Same as in the USA. Although we do not have a draft, there are few, if any, orthodox men that register with the selective service. The orthodox do not work in the mainstream either. Maybe the ultra-orthodox should take over Israel, all the ones from other countries can move there and they can figure out how to defend themselves because no foreign country will support them.

[David]

Interesting article; however, I suggest that this is not the Court's business. If there is to be a serious political change on this issue (and I believe there should be), then it should come from the legislature.

[harold]

In my days the US had something similiar called "student deferment" it had the designation "2S".

I have no problem with as long as it has a limit as to the number of years the defermant is good for, then I have a problem. I would also demand to see progress. Example (keeping religion out of the example) BA->MA->PhD or BA->MD->Intern->Residency.

[A. Nuran]

harold, as a result student deferments were capped and severely restricted. And that was a much smaller percentage of those eligible for military service.

[joe]

selective service has nothing to do with getting a legal job and it happens to be that the yeshivas love signing up their students for it at least RCA made me do it

[paul]

Joe;
That is incorrect. I personally will guarantee you that if you asked every single black hat type if they would ever consider enlisting in the United States military or registering for the selective service they would say no. I personally believe they should be forced to move elsewhere, they take from the government and steal from the government but refuse to support our country. The current videos being shown regarding Acorn and how they are teaching people to get around the law to get benefits, the orthodox do the same thing.

Hoorah!!!!

[A. Nuran]

If this twenty five percent really represents the fraction who will never be prepared for the job market it is a national demographic emergency. There are three reasons for this:

1) Any healthy organism can support a certain parasite load. But when its health declines, economic health in this case, it can do fatal damage.

2) Reducing the effective, educated labor force this much will force wages down in the lower-skilled sector. While it will push up demand for higher-skilled workers and increase their pay somewhat it won't cover the gap. And since the unemployable have significantly larger families it means each earner will be stretched to support more while the competition for the few jobs which the unskilled can do will be astronomical.

3) Government largesse just isn't going to be there while the traditional charities are facing increased demand and reduced funds. Add a generation of observant Jews with no prospect of making a living and strict community sanctions against anyone who attempts to live in the real economic world.

Something has to give. The demands of abject poverty are harsh. It will almost certainly be destructive to those communities.

How will it play out?
Widespread crime?
Rioting?
Incoherent, violent, religious reactionary politics like we see emerging in much of the Muslim world or parts of the West?
Social breakdown of the Haredi communities as people realize the system does not allow them to survive economically?
Severe social controls in a futile, not quite conscious attempt to forestall the last possibility?

We've seen all of these. I predict it will get worse unless community leaders develop a more penetrating vision or the government looks at where the lines run together and take action to preserve the nation.

[haredi man]

fyi AT my lakewood yeshiva we all signed up for the selective service

also this study is a projection for 2020! not now

how many 30 yr olds are in the work force?

come on....

[mike]

Many do not realize this, but the drafting of haredim into the army may cause lots more problems than it solves. Firstly, every time a command which conflicts with daas torah is given, many haredim will refuse till they get the go-ahead from their rabbi. Can you imagine, in the heat of battle, the haredi soldier taking out his cell phone and telling his superior "wait, let me see what my rav tells me to do"? This may seem th some a far-fetched situation but it isn't. Infact, the army is already experiencing similar problems with the more hard core elements of the Mzrahi movement. And if rhe haredi soldiers refuse a command, what is the army going to do? Put them all in jail? The army simply does not have the resources for that.
More important. One of the advantages secular and MO israeli society has over the hareidim is that in case of an all out war with the hareidim (g-d forbid) the ultra-orthodox do not have any firearms. If the hareidim begin serving in the army, that advantage goes out the window. Israel may want to leave wll enough alone and keep these folks as far away from tzahal as possible

[A. Nuran]

Mike, it's the sort of problem which many militaries have dealt with successfully. It starts on the first day of Basic Training when the D.I. puts the kibosh (verbally) to the first recruit who questions orders or talks back. It escalates from there but very seldom does. And yes, for those who disobey direct orders there is always the stockade and the threat of dishonorable discharge and prison time. You don't have to do it very often. Be firm at first, and almost everyone falls into line.

The IDF has had remarkable success turning Jews from all over the world and any number of cultures into soldiers. That's probably why the Haredim leadership is so uncomfortable with the idea of military service.

[mike]

Mr Nuran, you are correct in stating that IDF brings togather many jews from different cultures and succeeds in turning them into fine soldiers but none (or almost none) of these group have been brainwashed in the manner hareidim have. Also, these other groups you mentioned are actually interested in becoming good soldiers and, in turn, good citizens. The hareidem could not give a flying-you-know-what about these things. And that is my point. If the Hareidim do not want to willingly participate, things like jail time and dishonoroble discharge will not deter them. Also, my friend, you are missing the point about numbers. You may very well be able to dicipline 1,2 or ecen 5 dozen soldiers who are not cooperating. But what about 70-100 K ? This will simply cause unprecedented chaos. And if the army's word conflicts with the Gedolim's word, no power on earth will make most Hareidim chose the army over a rav. These are indeed problems which IMHO cannot be solved in the near future