A Different View on Israel

The Draft Evasion Law and Zionism

For weeks now the coalition in the Israeli parliament (the Knesset) has been trying to get the draft law (or draft evasion law for Haredi men) passed, which would, according to the initiator MK Bismuth, bring thousands of Haredi youngsters into the army. One of the reasons it has taken so long is that even some cynical coalition partners do not support this “draft evasion” law, which would leave most Haredi men to simply go on  with their lives, while others, religious and secular alike, risk their lives, spend months in reserve duty and destroy their livelihood and their families  sometimes.

Netanyahu has had a difficult time finding a majority for this shameful and discriminatory bill and that is mainly because the Haredi parties in his government are mostly not in favor and demand a complete exemption for Haredim. And Netanyahu cannot afford the bill not getting passed because in a ultimate move, the Haredi parties have threatened to vote against the upcoming budget law, which would mean the fall of his coalition.

The fall of the government would mean elections and more than that, the end of Netanyahu’s career, paving the way for his ever-lasting trial to be expedited, which will most likely result in a conviction for at least some of the accusations. So he is making every effort to appease the Haredim, to convince them that the law is in their interest and get their crucial vote.

This tactic already has resulted in a list of compensations for the Haredim costing the State billions but the Haredi parties are still hesitating, hoping to get more out of their blackmail tactics.

And then, a couple of days ago, the unexpected happened, and it happened big. One of the TV stations, Channel 12, revealed that they had recorded, in secret, discussions with the rabbinical leaders of the Haredi parties. Not the Knesset members, who are often as low grade and stupid as the rest of their colleagues in parliament, but the rabbis and leaders behind the screens, who make all the decisions that the Knesset members need to live up to.

In these recordings, these “respected” rabbis divulged what they really are up to and intend to do. They discussed the draft law extensively and weighed all the options, but in the end is was very clear: they will instruct their Knesset members to be in favor of the draft law, so that the budget can be passed and the money that is withheld from them,  from subsidies to kindergartens, to support for Yeshivas that send  a minimum of their pupils to the army, can be paid again.

And why? Very simple. These rabbis understand politics a lot better than Knesset members do, and they are very aware that even if the draft law is approved, it will take time before it is implemented also because it for sure will go to the Supreme Court, and thus, while all the subsidies will be paid and things will return to normal until final decisions of the courts will be implemented. And in the meantime they will receive all the money that they need (which amounts to billions of shekels), which may take years.

And Netanyahu wasn’t aware of this intricate scheme designed by the Rabbinical leadership?

Apparently not, or maybe he was aware but it was against his fight for survival and thus he allows it to happen and use it to get the required votes, even if it means that no Haredim will join the army but they will just enjoy all the benefits.

While the Chief of Staff published an urgent letter, warning that the army is severely overextended and urgently needs thousands of recruits to maintain its superiority, the coalition is still going ahead with the draft evasion law. Is this what Zionism is about these days?

This government has become a ball in the Netanyahu court and anybody who does not want to play is thrown off the field. The Prime Minister has chosen them carefully to assure that he will be able to control (or punish) them and he will not hesitate to do so if they will not behave according to expectations.

So apparently, the Draft Evasion law will move forward in the next couple of weeks and the Haredim and the rest of the coalition will say they did something important.

However, the simple fact is that the Haredim are a cynical money-hungry bunch for whom the Zionist State is totally irrelevant and the rest of the coalition is a coalition of useless no-goods who will do anything, also when it is against anything that Zionism once stood for.

What happened to us?

I hope you found this article interesting and I welcome any comments you may have.

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