“This is a sad day for the haredi Jewish world. This day will be
recorded as a dark day for the Jews living in the land of Israel. The
government’s abuse of the haredi minority borders on persecution and
cruelty. They have no mandate from the United
Nations to run the country this way.”
Rabbi Meir Porush
Israel Has No UN Mandate To Draft Haredim, Haredi MK Says After Cabinet Passes Draft Bill
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
Israel’s cabinet has approved (14 votes for; four abstentions, all members of the right wing Yisrael Beiteinu Party) the government’s plan to draft haredi yeshiva students beginning in 2017, Arutz Sheva reported. This means the bill will be brought to the whole Knesset for a vote, where it is expected to pass.
Member of Knesset Rabbi Meir Porush from the Ashkenazi haredi United Torah Judaism Party was reportedly outraged by the decision.
“This is a sad day for the haredi Jewish world. This day will be recorded as a dark day for the Jews living in the land of Israel. The government’s abuse of the haredi minority borders on persecution and cruelty. They [i.e., the government] have no mandate from the United Nations to run the country this way,” Porush fumed.
Porush has previously asserted that it is the right of haredim to live off government welfare and other government benefits. He also previously said that the proposed draft of haredi yeshiva students would "crush the world of Torah," and last week he told the Knesset that his sons listen to their hasidic rebbes – not to the laws the Knesset passes.
All other Jewish citizens of Israel – even Zionist Orthodox yeshiva students, even great scholars and great minds from secular schools – have been always required to serve in the IDF when they turn 18. Only haredi yeshiva students have been exempt.
Like Porush, haredi leaders across the board strongly object to haredi yeshiva students serving in the military, even in segregated male-only haredi units serving on segregated male-only haredi bases.
Related MK Rabbi Meir Porush Posts:
It Is Our Fundamental Democratic "Right" To Choose To Be Poor And To Live Off Welfare, Haredi MK Says.
Proposed Bill To Draft Haredim Into Israel’s Military “Designed To Crush The World Of Torah,” Haredi MK Says.
Haredi MK: My Sons Listen To Hasidic Rebbes, Not Israeli Law.
[Hat Tip: Ruthie.]