Israel is having a parasite problem. And it is not a parasite that you call an exterminator for or take medicine to get rid of it. This is a parasite that Israel has nurtured and protected for years, knowing it will become a problem but nevertheless continued to allow it to grow.
This parasite is called “Yeshiva Student”. There are now an estimated 135,000 Yeshiva and Kollel students, who spend their time with their noses in books, “studying” the Torah. Israel pays for their Yeshivot and kollels. Israel pays their yeshivas and kollels just based on the number of “students”. Israel pays these students Social Security benefits because they do not work and have no income. And these are only the visible payments that Israel makes and does not include below the table arrangements with the Haredi parties.
The absurdity of Israel supporting these parasites has gained emphasis in the past months, with Israel’s young (and older) men fighting a seemingly never-ending war. These soldiers abandoned everything when they were called, their families, their business, their jobs, everything, in order to protect their home.
The parasites have always had the benefit of not having to serve in the army, endless governments have capitulated against the Haredi parties, and their demands that Haredi youth will not be enlisted. It has always been scandalous, but in a time of war, with secular and also religious Israelis serving for months and fighting, knowing that a large privileged group does not do anything at all, it is becoming an issue that needs to be solved and quick.
The politicians, as is their routine, are playing games with this moral and security issue, but the Supreme Court has issued an order that there must be a legal base for the exemption of Yeshiva students from the Army, or the current laws governing enlistment must be upheld. This would mean that all yeshiva students need to be drafted without delay.
The government has repeatedly requested and extension of the ruling to establish a law that will govern the recruitment of the Haredi youth, and until now, surprisingly, the Court has granted these requests. The current date for the enforcement is set by the Court for April 1st, and the government has already requested an additional extension.
The government cannot come to agreement on this issue because the Haredim would veto anything except complete exemption of Haredi youth of enlistment, while at least some other members in the government, including retired generals, will not agree to such an exemption and vote against it. And this would imply that no matter what the government does, it will not survive the draft law, and our Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, who has in mind ONLY his survival, is attempting to gain time by doing nothing, which is something this government is very good at.
The arguments the Haredim use to avoid enlistment sound like: “Without the Torah, without the yeshivas for married men, there would be nothing, there would be no success for the army. … The army succeeds thanks only to those who study Torah, the Torah is what protects us.” And, while it sounds absurd, it has allowed them not to go to the army, even in time of war.
Another argument has been that it is impossible to force somebody to become a soldier. This may be true, but the army does not force enlistment. There are sanctions against draft dodgers, which may include imprisonment, but also the inability to receive Social Security payments, to become a government employee, and other services that the state provides its citizens. A “regular” Israeli citizen who refuses to be drafted, faces these consequences so why should a Yeshiva student not be treated the same way. The Chief Sephardic rabbi Yitzhak Yosef has threatened to leave Israel if the Yeshiva students are drafted. A ridiculous threat that received many positive reactions in Israel, with many being happy to see the parasites leave and was quickly retracted more or less by the Rabbi and for the time being the Haredim decided to fight this attempt at equality for all Israeli citizens from within. And with a partner like Netanyahu, they may still succeed.
It is high time for Israel to wake up. Inequality in many areas of social and legal life in Israel is still a serious problem but the draft of Yeshiva students has become an existential problem, with the army desperately needing soldiers, even in support positions, to enable fighters to spend less time in the army and more time at home and with their business.
If Israel again lets the Haredim win, for political or religious reasons, we will soon have even more “Yeshiva Students” that need to be supported and will become a burden on the State that Israel will not be able to carry any longer.
I hope you found this article interesting and I welcome any comments you may have.
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