SOL SUSSMAN

2024-03-31

It's time to get it out of your head and your lexicon. There is no option in which Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) yeshiva students will in any way. There are many reasons for this, and thousands of columns have already been written about it, but in my opinion, first and foremost is their fear, and we must be honest, it is of secularization. Yes, exactly as it sounds. The Haredim don't want you to change them. The Haredim want to remain ultra-Orthodox. You all know that the army in the State of Israel is defined as the 'melting pot of Israeli society', and as such, it is clear to you that there is not even a shadow of a chance of seeing even one real . What to do, it does not work together. It is unthinkable that you ask, or rather demand from Haredim, who live in the Jewish state, that the only proof that this state is indeed ours is the Torah! A group of ultra-Orthodox Jews blocked traffic and the light rail in Jerusalem demonstrating against a Haredi draft into the IDF. February 26, 2024. (credit: SOL SUSSMAN) Unfortunately, you are belittling Haredi society so much, and the truth is that it is spent; we have no right to exist here at all! And you demand they stop observing, as was written and spoken according to their faith! There's no way that will happen. As one who did military service and was released just a few days ago from reserve duty helping identify fallen soldiers, alongside my friends who do God's work there - work that is difficult to describe in words, but perhaps in another article -  I can confidently say: If Haredim had been running the same service, everything there would have looked different. From a haredi point of view, Shabbat is desecrated there almost every Saturday when the dead arrive. In retrospect, I realized that I was also forced to violate Shabbat there. As a haredi, the whole issue of harvesting sperm from soldiers would have been considered from the beginning and maybe even prohibited. I was there. You can't play on me. I have seen everything and I know the truth. Believe me, you don't really want the haredim in the army. You don't want the haredim to make crucial decisions according to the Halacha. Think about it. If we really want, . The problem is that we have become a tool in the hands of the politicians who prefer to perpetuate the problem and not find a solution because it will always be the tool for threats of this and that nature to the Haredim. More opportunities to call them extortionists or any other derogatory term.  So I have news for you: threats won't help. Denying budgets will not help. Jail won't help. is nothing. Understand, and let's find a solution together. ...قراءة المزيد

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2024-03-26

The continued reality that 90% of adult haredi (ultra-Orthodox) males are has no moral, halachic, or security justification. This was true before October 7 and has become a critical issue since. Having formed part of the debate during the period of legal reform before the war, it is now a burning public issue. There are many people responsible for the fact that the haredi community has been exempted for the 76 years since the creation of the State of Israel, starting with David Ben-Gurion and including pretty much every government since. But in the very real-world crisis in which Israel finds itself, the issue has crystallized due to the huge sacrifice made by conscripted and reserve soldiers since October 7 and the army’s need for more combat forces. With the immediate and long-term requirement for battle-trained soldiers going up, the haredi leadership is doubling down on its rhetoric. Currently, the only thing standing between real change in government policy and the untenable status quo is the political needs of the prime minister, backed by the religious Zionist parties in the government. It is time for the moral masses on the political and religious right to call their leaders out and demand a change of course. The fact that any change will take time to have an impact only increases the urgency for action. The country needs more soldiers, in particular combat soldiers. In order to achieve this, the army is demanding that conscripted soldiers extend their service and that those in reserve be called upon for extended periods of service for the foreseeable future. There is a limited number of populations that can provide additional pools for recruitment, namely, female soldiers (whose number in combat roles is on the rise) and haredi men.A group of ultra-Orthodox Jews blocked traffic and the light rail in Jerusalem demonstrating against a Haredi draft into the IDF. February 26, 2024. (credit: SOL SUSSMAN) The government is in a bind. Public opinion is now strongly and emotively against any extension of the blanket exemption for over 60,000 haredi yeshiva students, and on the other hand, the government is politically beholden to the haredi parties, which as yet remain firm in their resistance. The law allowing for the haredi exemption actually expired in June 2023, and now there are several cases before the Supreme Court calling for two measures as a result. One is to force the Defense Ministry’s hand and start calling up haredi men, and the second is to halt any financial support for the yeshivot, with students now legally required to enlist. Both outcomes are political causus belli for the haredi parties. In an attempt to stave off these sanctions, the government is mulling a decision that will, among other things, increase the age of exemption to 34. This means that any haredi not performing national service will not be legally allowed to work until they are 34. Currently, the age is 26. This will turn the clock back to 2010. Dr. Gilad Malach of the Israel Democracy Institute is an expert on government policy on conscription and haredim. He notes that, in contrast to what is now being claimed by the government, not only will this not increase the number of haredim joining but it may cause the opposite. According to Malach, all the data shows just the opposite. “History and experience have shown us that it will also have a negative impact on the quality and quantity of the haredi participation in the employment market. The later haredim seek training or employment, the less likely they will be able to train for highly skilled work,” he says. Alternatively, reducing the age of exemption causes more haredim to seek employment at a younger age, with the ability to skill up in order to exploit the opportunity. Instead of raising the age, Malach and all the experts would prefer that the government reduce it. Yoav Gradus, director-general of the Budget Department in Israel’s Ministry of Finance, issued a letter to the defense minister on Sunday, following the publication of the proposed government decision. Reports in the press stressed that the decision was being driven without the normal professional input from relevant government ministries, which only increases the sense that the decision is purely political, without any real prospect of a positive impact on either increased participation in the army or the economy. In the letter, he is quite specific: “From an economic point of view, the condition connecting the non-conscription of men and their non-integration into the labor market led, as mentioned, to the creation of employment patterns that produce long-term damage to the entire economy.” In a stunning and unusually candid moment from an Israeli politician, former minister of justice Ayelet Shaked, who was closely involved in the conscription law passed in 2014, admitted that all her hopes for the law and the process it was meant to create have failed. “At the time we passed the law, the annual haredi cohort of boys numbered 8,000, and 1,200 were conscripted. After 10 years, we didn’t reach (our target of) 6,000. Indeed, the cohort has grown to 12,000, and the number of conscripts is 1,800,” she told a recent conference at Tel Aviv University. In the meantime, the army’s needs have grown dramatically.  There are no easy fixes to this entrenched problem. Nobody expects or believes that masses of haredim will join the IDF immediately, no matter what policy is employed by the government. However, the need to shift course is now. At the very least, the government has to begin the process. For this to happen, one of two things will have to occur. Either the Likud and the Religious Zionist Party will have to force the issue with the haredi parties or there will have to be elections with the ball dropping into the lap of the next government. Urgency demands that this happens under the auspices of the current government. Politics determines that this is an unlikely outcome. For the first to happen, Netanyahu and Smotrich will have to switch course, the risk being that the haredi parties will bolt the coalition and On the other hand, Gantz, Eisenkot, and perhaps Defense Minister Gallant can force their hand by either demanding a different policy or delivering an ultimatum to leave the government. Of course, elections will delay the process. One way or another, there will soon be irresistible public pressure for change. This will have to include reduced government budgets supporting yeshivas for haredim who do not serve and increasing budgets for haredi institutions and programs that encourage national service, whether military or civilian. The government must support schools teaching core studies and social responsibility and reduce budgets to schools that are not preparing their students to make a full contribution to Israeli society.  Nobody wants to see Haredim stop being loyal to their religious identity, but most Israelis are in no mood to see the status quo extended. The writer, a founding partner of Goldrock Capital, is the founder of The Institute for Jewish and Zionist Research. He is a former chair of Gesher, World Bnei Akiva, and the Coalition for Haredi Employment. ...قراءة المزيد

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2024-03-25

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced to his party, the Likud, that he would not renege on passing the ultra-Orthodox draft bill and that without the bill, the government would not remain in place, KAN Reshet B reported on Monday morning. Netanyahu’s announcement came in the wake of minister-without-portfolio and National Unity chair Benny Gantz’s warning that he would should the bill be passed and reports of several Likud ministers' opposition to the bill. The bill, should it pass, would extend the exemption from IDF conscription for haredi (ultra-Orthodox) Jews. The subject of drafting the haredim into the IDF has been a point of contention, particularly in recent weeks, and has sparked a number of protests. Protests conducted by haredi men have sprung up in cities and Beni Brak, where protestors have blocked traffic and the light rail in demonstrations of opposition to the push to include them in Israel’s military draft.A group of ultra-Orthodox Jews blocked traffic and the light rail in Jerusalem demonstrating against a Haredi draft into the IDF. February 26, 2024. (credit: SOL SUSSMAN) Despite Netanyahu’s message to Likud, there has been doubt expressed within the part about whether the bill could pass. Likud member Hanoch Milwidsky, in a Monday interview on 103FM, expressed his disbelief that the draft of the bill, as it currently stands, could pass, adding “I didn't write it, moreover, no one consulted me before they wrote it." On Sunday, Gantz voiced firm opposition to the bill, saying, “The people will not tolerate it, the Knesset will not be able to vote in favor of it, and my associates and I cannot be part of this emergency government if this law passes.” “If the draft law passes on Tuesday, Gantz and (minister-without-portfolio) [Gadi] Eisenkot would leave the government,” KAN Reshet B quoted opposition leader and Yesh Atid Chair as saying on Monday. “It's a security disaster. There aren't enough soldiers. There are more soldiers today in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) than in Gaza. Practically, the actual war is not being conducted at the moment." KAN also noted that Lapid directly attacked Netanyahu. “Netanyahu was and remains a rabbit in closed rooms,” Lapid reportedly said. “I fought with the Americans much more than he did as prime minister.” ...قراءة المزيد

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2024-03-24

Benny Gantz announced on Sunday that he would leave the government if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bill granting exemption from IDF conscription to ultra-Orthodox (haredi) Jews passes in Knesset. "The people will not tolerate it, the Knesset will not be able to vote in favor of it, and my associates and I cannot be part of this emergency government if this law passes," he said in his announcement.  "Passing such a law would be crossing a red line during normal times, and during the war, it's like flying a black flag over it," he added, "we will not be able to look in the eyes of fighters within our borders and beyond them, and ask them to extend their service." Earlier Sunday, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said he would also oppose the bill, but did not threaten to leave the government. He delivered his statement just before arriving in Washington to meet with  US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.A group of ultra-Orthodox Jews blocked traffic and the light rail in Jerusalem demonstrating against a Haredi draft into the IDF. February 26, 2024. (credit: SOL SUSSMAN) Reports of what the bill would entail include more nuanced approaches, such as a gradual increase of military-age haredi men into IDF units adapted to their needs, including stringent dietary laws (kashrut) and gender segregation. All Haredi politicians, however, insist that full-time yeshiva students should be given an exemption. Yonah Jeremy Bob and Eliav Breuer contributed to this report. ...قراءة المزيد

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2024-03-16

Israel's sparked controversy last week when, in his weekly lesson, he said that if the ultra-Orthodox were forced to draft, they would leave the country. The backlash was swift with Minister Benny Gantz calling Yosef's words "a moral affront to the state and Israeli society," and opposition leader Yair Lapid calling them "an insult and disgrace to the IDF soldiers who risk their lives to defend the country." The Israel-Hamas war has brought the issue of to a head as the IDF suggested extending the length of service and reserve duty for Israeli soldiers. Protest organizations have been demonstrating for months, calling for equality when it comes to bearing the defense burden, and two petitions recently went before the supreme court on the issue of the ultra-Orthodox draft. Before October 7th, however, there was a school of thought that suggested that the haredi exemption should actually be expanded, based on which showed that such an expansion would increase haredi participation and productivity in the labor force. In the reality of October 6th, VP of data and research at the Haredi Institute of Public Affairs, Economist Dr Eitan Regev, was in favor of lowering the age of exemption from IDF service for the ultra-Orthodox, meaning those studying Torah for less time would still qualify for a full exemption from service. "It made sense economically," Regev explained. "Our logic as economists in the 'days before' was that we were talking about a sector that does not draft, and it looked like this was unlikely to change politically, so an earlier exemption would minimize the warping in the labor market," he said.A group of ultra-Orthodox Jews blocked traffic and the light rail in Jerusalem demonstrating against a Haredi draft into the IDF. February 26, 2024. (credit: SOL SUSSMAN) The Haredi Institute of Public Affairs is a research organization focused on the planning, implementation and promotion of data-based policies related to all aspects of Haredi society in Israel. When looking at the data without distinguishing by gender, around 70% of ultra-Orthodox people are employed, as opposed to 85% of the general population, said Regev. The real problem in the labor market is workforce productivity. The gap in workforce productivity between haredi and non-haredi workers is 90%, he said. Lowering the exemption age would not only allow haredi men to enter the workforce earlier, but may impact planning for young ultra-Orthodox people, increasing their incentive to invest in an education that would serve them in the workforce and allow them to be more productive, explained Regev. "We can see a spike in employment for haredi men over the course of the last two years," said Regev, explaining that economic forces such as increasing housing costs, rising interest rates, and less help from parents who studied torah rather than working themselves, are part of what is pushing more haredim into the workforce. In the reality of October 8th, both for the general and ultra-Orthodox population, however, the reality is completely different and it is clear that things must change, said Regev.  "Practically speaking, Israel's defense needs have changed," said Regev. "Ideas about a small, smart army are less relevant. We need tens of thousands of soldiers in reserves and mandatory service to hold new active fronts. On the most practical level, defense organizations such as Israel Police, Magen David Adom, ZAKA, and others need and will need more manpower. "As the haredi part of the population grows, Israel cannot afford to not include this sector in defense organizations," he said. The public perception of why the ultra-Orthodox society is resistant to the draft is that the ultra-Orthodox are concerned drafting will get in the way of Torah study, but a survey from The Haredi Institute of Public Affairs paints a different picture. "When we talk to the haredi public, the main fear is not that joining Israel's defense industry will harm their Torah study, but that those who join will lose their haredi identity," said Regev, who explained that this was a significant difference, and is a problem with a different solution. This challenge has solutions that are not dependent on cross-sectorial wars, explains Regev. The solution to a fear of losing haredi identity, is to adapt defense frameworks to incorporate haredi employees and soldiers, and allow them to fully maintain their haredi identity, he explained.   Another institute finding that is counter to public perception is that a narrow majority of haredim believe that those who do not study Torah, should not be eligible for an exemption from IDF service. Some 51% of the hundreds of ultra-Orthodox surveyed by the institute in a poll that examined haredi opinions in the wake of the Israel-Hamas War, said that those haredim who don't study should not be exempt from IDF service. Additionally, 70% of haredim polled said that haredim who do not study torah should contribute to the country through military, civil, or national service.   This is a good opening point for a real agreement that would formalize an ultra-Orthodox draft, said Regev. "This won't automatically cause all haredim to draft," he explained. "It allows for an agreement that would bring in an acceptable numbers of draftees, without creating a feeling of an internal rift in Israeli society," said Regev, adding that there is an understanding in haredi society that the post-October 7 reality is different, and that the need to do their part and serve is existential. ...قراءة المزيد

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2024-03-13

Israel is barreling toward an April deadline imposed by the High Court for either a formalization of or an end to the longstanding haredi (ultra-Orthodox) Discourse grows heated and risks a dangerous kulturkampf, might bring down the government, and touches on Jewish ethics, military issues, society, and the economy. And so, I read with interest the op-ed on these pages by Rabbi David Stav, the founder and chair of the Tzohar Rabbinical Organization. Like me, he considers the haredi community’s refusal to serve (in his words) “a massive moral stain [and] a desecration of God’s name (Hilul Hashem) that cannot be forgiven.” Yet he argues that – and here we somewhat disagree. I don’t dispute that Israeli society must proceed with some sensitivity, and also with appreciation for the importance of religious scholarship. But the acquiescence to the impossibility of coercion is defeatist and unfair. Moreover, the does not stem from holding pacifist views (which one could argue should be respected); haredi voters as a bloc are now among the most aggressive on military and Palestinian issues. They are solidly on the Right, favoring, for example, Israel’s continued presence in the West Bank [Judea and Samaria], but refuse to serve in the military which secures and polices the territory. A group of ultra-Orthodox Jews blocked traffic and the light rail in Jerusalem demonstrating against a Haredi draft into the IDF. February 26, 2024. (credit: SOL SUSSMAN) No, the idea is simply that whereas secular people in Israel, by and large, can be coerced – as in all countries with universal conscription – in the case of the haredim, their steadfast refusal to serve will remain unbowed. Stav explains that haredi leadership have a very particular concern: that haredi youth, once in the military, could be seduced by secular life and leave the fold. I assess this observation to be correct. But it is critical for the wider society to help the haredim, gently but firmly, get over this fear. There are worse things in the world. One of them is the current war with Hamas, in which the military finds itself, for the first time in many decades, short of soldiers. The burden on non-haredi Israelis is becoming overwhelming. Beyond the practical, there is a sense of a deep violation of the Jewish principle of “Kol Yisrael arevim ze-bazeh” – a mutual responsibility for each other’s well-being. In a sign of the heating atmosphere, some less-than-sagacious haredi figures have argued that Torah study is more important for national defense than the IDF. And on Saturday, Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef warned that “if they force us to join the army, we will all move abroad.” Given the level of antipathy toward the haredim in many parts of Israel, that statement was not effective as a threat – but there is no doubt of its tenacity. The current situation is that youth well into their late 20s can avoid the military by studying Torah, driving many who are in no way “religious sages” to stay in yeshiva instead of joining the workforce, thus compounding the damage to society – and, I would add, somewhat cheapening the brand of the yeshivot. Because it also impacts the workforce, haredi men’s workforce participation is at barely 50% – far lower than haredi women – and many of those employed work in government-funded positions in the bloated public religious-services sector. Given the birthrate of almost seven children per family, close to a third of today’s first-graders are haredi; the boys will mostly move on to high school where they will not study math, English, or science, and then on to the military exemption. It is clear to see where this is headed, and most of it must end (inter alia, through core curriculum-related funding requirements for schools). At a time when secular Israelis and their national-religious brothers are facing lengthening terms as conscripts followed by long months of annual reserve duty, and Israel has absorbed almost 2,000 deaths in the war, rage is mounting. The current conscription environment was an informal scheme of prime minister Menachem Begin, initiated some 45 years ago. Because of the birthrate, its impact has since ballooned. Prior to that, only a few hundred genuine scholars were exempted annually, in a deal going back to David Ben-Gurion, the first prime minister. THE PRESENT situation is widely viewed by the non-haredi public and most legal scholars as an extreme case of inequality toward those who risk their lives. The courts have demanded action. The response of the haredi parties has been to persuade Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the informal scheme be enshrined in law. A few weeks ago Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who, though from Netanyahu’s Likud, has shown traces of independence of thought, announced that he would not table the law unless moderate parties of the center-Left agreed, which they will not. The haredim demand a workaround and threaten to bring down the coalition. If Netanyahu attempts a workaround, he will inflame public opinion (recent polls show that even a majority of Likud voters want the haredim drafted). It is a real conundrum for Netanyahu, and it should be allowed to play out. If the government falls on this issue, there will be a real chance to reshuffle Israeli politics in a way that will enable a fix, not just to this problem but to many others also. The current Right-religious coalition is paralyzed on the issue because without the Haredi parties it has no majority and cannot hope for one in the future. STAV’S SOLUTION is instead to replace the arrangement with a multi-track system that allows for non-military forms of national service. It’s not a terrible idea to offer the option not just to haredim but a wider swath of the public – to Arab citizens, pacifists, women perhaps, and those with special skills or special needs. But as a sweeping solution for the haredim only, it reeks of yet more inequality. The haredi leadership is right that many of their youth will, once relieved of their blinders and freed of their shackles, drift away from the haredi lifestyle – and that is perfectly fine. Just as not everyone is cut out to be a Torah scholar, not everyone naturally wishes to devote their lives to worship to the degree haredim do. If being born into a haredi family means you must remain haredi, and the birthrate continues for a few more generations, the sector will dominate the country. Unless behavior changes, the economy will collapse, and so will Israel’s capacity to defend itself. Something, quite clearly and rather quickly, has to give. Secular Israelis are asked to accept that their sons and daughters might become religious, after all. It is a two-way street. The free market in ideas demands that the haredim accept the consequences of allowing their youth to encounter the full range of possibilities of the human experience. The writer was the regional chief of AP in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, chaired the Foreign Press Association in Jerusalem, and authored two books on Israel. Follow him at danperry.substack.com. ...قراءة المزيد

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2024-03-11

stirred controversy by threatening a if the government enforces compulsory military service for the haredim (ultra-Orthodox Jews). Yosef asserted that, if forced to join the army, haredim would collectively move abroad, posing a potential upheaval for the nation. Needless to say, this is a horrible thing to say. Israel’s defense equates Israel’s existence, and the rabbi’s comments not only reject that fact, they insult those who strive to defend their country, both in mandatory service and the reserves. “ are an insult and disgrace to the IDF soldiers who risk their lives to defend the country,” Opposition Leader Yair Lapid said. “Yosef is employed and paid by the state. He cannot threaten the state.” Yosef, in his comments, underscored the pivotal role of Torah study in Israel’s success, attributing the country’s achievements to divine protection secured through Torah learning, rather than military might alone. This, if anything, is an insult to soldiers who have fought, especially now, amid war, to ensure the safety of Israel’s citizens, secular and ultra-Orthodox alike. We do not presume to know the will of God, but neither should Yosef, especially when it comes to the protection of our sacred land. Yosef also questioned the secular community’s appreciation for the spiritual contributions to national security, highlighting the perceived undervaluation of the yeshivas and kollels.A group of ultra-Orthodox Jews blocked traffic and the light rail in Jerusalem demonstrating against a Haredi draft into the IDF. February 26, 2024. (credit: SOL SUSSMAN) He suggested, as many men of faith have before him, that Israel’s value is derived solely from their faith, completely negating any virtues beyond of Judaism, whether directly in defense of the state or by character alone. Yosef’s comments echo sentiments previously expressed within the haredi community by his late father, former chief rabbi Ovadia Yosef, suggesting in 2013 that haredim might leave if compelled to serve. This occurred in the context of an ongoing debate about conscription, a divisive issue in Israeli society.In late February, the High Court of Justice issued conditional orders challenging the government’s policies on drafting haredi religious students. The orders demand that the government annul by March 24 a decision not to enlist yeshiva students, until a new law was enacted by March 31. Additionally, on March 24, the government must explain its failure to recruit students.The court further demands an explanation by March 31 for the Education Ministry’s continued funding of Torah institutions despite students’ military service not being legally deferred. IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi criticized the exemption of haredim from national service several times last week. He emphasized the importance of broadening the sectors of Israel’s population serving in the military and performing national service. He argued that this inclusivity is necessary to replace fallen soldiers and stressed that national unity would be sustained only if all segments of the population, including haredim, participate in military or national service. Milhemet mitzvah, defined as “War by Commandment” in Hebrew, refers to wars commanded by the Torah that Israel’s kings could initiate without needing Sanhedrin approval, typically for fulfilling divine commandments, such as battles against the arch enemy, Amalek. In contrast, milkhemet reshut, or “authorized war,” required Sanhedrin permission and was usually for territorial expansion or economic gain, unlike milhemet mitzvah, which was often defensive or for protecting vital interests. There is no doubt that the defense of the Jewish people in the world’s only Jewish state is a milhemet mitzvah. Hundreds of soldiers, from all backgrounds, have sacrificed their lives during this righteous war. Haredi leaders should ignore politics and be a part of the broader nation of Israel, in fighting for its survival. The threat of a mass departure by the haredim may not be an empty threat and it should not be acceptable. It raises important questions about religious freedom and national security in the State of Israel. Ultimately, however, there is only one side of this debate threatening to leave the country if asked to serve. If the threats are false, it is an cruel gesture. If they are real, they have misinterpreted the word of God. ...قراءة المزيد

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2024-03-10

Eight months after a WhatsApp group of doctors formed to encourage “relocation” from Israel because of the judicial reform debate, on Saturday night encouraged the emigration of yeshiva students if the state obligated them to serve in the IDF. Both threats were arrogant, and both stemmed from the same mistaken premise: that those threatening to leave are doing anyone a favor by staying here. Just as the country could get by—maybe not as well, but it could get by—if a few hundred or even a few thousand doctors left because others would inevitably come and take their place, so could the country manage if tens of thousands of yeshiva students packed up and sought study halls elsewhere.  Especially if those yeshiva students are not enhancing the country’s security by physically defending it. What the doctors and failed to grasp is that it is a religious and historical privilege to be counted among the generation that returned to Israel after two millennia. With all its problems and faults, Israel is also a vibrant, thriving, exciting, good place to live—which is why so many have chosen to uproot themselves from other lands to come here. It is also the only place on earth where the country’s pulse,  calendar, rhythm, and soul is Jewish. For 75 years the country has crept from one crisis to the next, the doors were wide open, yet most of the people did not rush for the exits. Why not? Because both in terms of day-to-day life and in terms of feeling a sense of doing something significant, Israel has tremendous appeal. Israel of 2024, with nearly 10 million people, of which 7.2 million are Jews, is not Israel of 1965, a country of 2.6 million people and only 2.3 million Jews when it was viewed as a national failure and tragedy when people emigrated. Today, there is a strong sense that if people want to leave, they should go -- no one is keeping them here.  A group of ultra-Orthodox Jews blocked traffic and the light rail in Jerusalem demonstrating against a Haredi draft into the IDF. February 26, 2024. (credit: SOL SUSSMAN) , in his more than 10 years as Sephardi Chief Rabbi, has uttered more than a few divisive comments. Few, however, as tone-deaf and potentially damaging, as his comment on Saturday night. “There are yeshiva students who go to reserves, and [while there] not all of them are able to learn Torah,” Yosef said. “They were all able to be kollel students exempt from the army. The tribe of Levi is exempt from the army. They are not taken under any circumstance, no matter what. If they force us to go to the army we will all leave Israel. We will buy tickets and leave.” The secular population, he continued,  “needs to understand that without Torah, without kollels, without yeshivot—there is no existence, there would be no success for the army.” He added that the success of the soldiers is only due to the study of the yeshiva students. This comment threatening mass emigration came three years after Yosef advised against making aliya, unless to a religious neighborhood. “When I visited the Tunisian Jewish community, I was asked to rule whether or not Djerba’s Jews should immigrate to Israel,” Yosef said in 2021. “I told them it depends on where they would live. If they are going to live in an Ultra-Orthodox neighborhood or next to [the Tunisian ‘Kisei Rahamim’ [yeshiva in Bnei Brak], then they should immigrate to Israel. But if they are to live in a place like Herzliya or another one of the secular locations… they should stay where they are.” One year Yosef counseled Diaspora Jews to stay in place unless they were going to live in a religious neighborhood, on another he advised yeshiva students to leave the country if commanded to defend it. His statement Saturday night was especially tone-deaf in that it was said as the country continues to bury soldiers—including those who study Torah—killed while fighting enemies of the Jewish people.  On the same day Yosef made his comment, Maj. (res.)Amishar Ben-David, a father of five from Eli who studied in the past in Bnei David yeshiva in Eli, was killed in Gaza. How painful it must be to the relatives of the fallen to hear a rabbinical leader say that it is okay for their loved ones to fight and die for the country, but that others need not do so. How insensitive. Does this type of comment breed unity or solidarity? On the contrary, it destroys unity and solidarity, which is what makes it so damaging. Solidarity is a sense that we are all in this together. Yosef’s comments send the exact opposite message: we are not all in this together, some need to risk their lives for the collective, while others simply do not. His words are damaging on another plane as well: they reinforce a dangerous sense among Israel’s enemies that Israel is falling apart and losing its resolve. If the country’s chief rabbi threatens that tens of thousands of people will leave, can Israel’s enemies be blamed for coming to this conclusion: “Hold on, keep applying pressure, and eventually the Zionist entity will dissolve from within.”  Iranian, Hezbollah, and Palestinian newspapers all highlighted Yosef’s comments on Sunday. Yosef’s comments also create a false binary reality. In the world he described, either there are yeshivot and kollels and no army service for the ultra-Orthodox,  or army service and no yeshivot or kollels. There can, however, be both. For starters, most people when talking about haredi conscription are not talking about drafting all the yeshiva students eligible for the draft, but rather the thousands who claim to be studying Torah full time, when in actuality they are not. Secondly, even in the unlikely eventuality where everyone would be drafted, the ultra-Orthodox youth will be free to study in yeshivot until army service, and then return to the study hall once their service is over. Nobody, unlike the impression Yosef created, is trying to close down yeshivot or uproot Torah in Israel.  Rather, what those keen on haredi conscription after October 7 are trying to do is provide the IDF with enough soldiers to ensure that Israel -- where Torah is studied at a level unprecedented in all of Jewish history --  is also not uprooted. ...قراءة المزيد

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2024-03-10

Five months into the Israel-Hamas was in the Gaza Strip, MK Moshe Tur-Paz told The Media Line that while the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) was “doing a great job” in dismantling the enemy’s ability to fight, a long-term victory would require removing its desire to fight. And this will take a whole generation—"25 years at least”—of peace education to change people’s mindset from being in a “fighting zone” to a “peace zone.” Tur-Paz, a member of the Israeli Knesset from the Yesh Atid party with a rich background as the head of the Jerusalem Education Administration and an operations directorate officer for the Gaza Division in the Israeli Army reserves, recently delved into Israel’s difficult conflicts with the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and with Hezbollah in Lebanon, as well as the complex issue of integrating the ultra-Orthodox community into the IDF, in an interview with The Media Line’s Felice Friedson on the sidelines of the Jerusalem Chairman’s Conference. Tur-Paz shared his insights and experiences, shedding light on the challenges and potential solutions for these pressing matters.  The integration of the , or Haredi, community into the IDF is a topic that evokes strong opinions and significant debate within Israeli society. “The first and easiest answer is they have to want to [join the army],” Tur-Paz told The Media Line. Before coming into politics, I built the platoons of the ultra-Orthodox in the Givati unit and in the Paratroopers. Over 1,000 ultra- have served there for the last 10 years, so it can be done.”A group of ultra-Orthodox Jews blocked traffic and the light rail in Jerusalem demonstrating against a Haredi draft into the IDF. February 26, 2024. (credit: SOL SUSSMAN) However, he also pointed out the resistance from within the ultra-Orthodox community, stating, “The thing is, most of the ultra-Orthodox community and mainly most of their leaders don’t want it. They live easier. … This is the biggest and most important issue of Israel today.” According to Tur-Paz, the in the IDF not only hinders their own community’s integration into broader Israeli society but also poses a significant challenge to the Israeli military’s operational capacity. He also argued that the current government might not be willing to take the necessary steps to integrate the ultra-Orthodox into the IDF, and that the issue could bring down the government. Referring to the ultra-Orthodox community’s current growth rate—4%, the highest of any group in Israel—Tur Paz noted: “Without the ultra-Orthodox boys, there won’t be any army. That’s a fact!” “So we have no chance than changing that division between the ultra-Orthodox and the Zionist people of Israel.” The solution, according to Tur-Paz, involves creating an environment within the IDF that accommodates the religious practices of the ultra-Orthodox while still maintaining high standards of military readiness, citing the success of ultra-Orthodox platoons in recent conflicts as evidence that such a balance is achievable. “If you build a platoon and you give it the time to learn [and] the time to pray [as well as] the kashrut whatever it needs and yet you demand of it [to be involved in] building the fighting experts, they would have done it.” Furthermore, he suggested that economic sanctions could be a tool to encourage ultra-Orthodox participation in the military, highlighting the effectiveness of such measures in the past. “It’s not such a problem like the ultra-Orthodox community is making out of it. It can be done. They have to take the action. And if they won’t take the action, we, the rest of the people [of Israel], will have to come demanding it.” ...قراءة المزيد

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2024-03-07

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi on Thursday slammed from IDF and national service for the second consecutive day. Speaking at the graduation of the IDF officer course in the South, Halevi said that broadening the sectors of Israel's population that serve in the IDF and national service is the only way to replace who have died in the current war. Further, he said that Israel as a country and the IDF as an organization would only remain united if all of the sectors of Israel's population become part of the IDF and national service - clearly referring to a need to draft haredim. Just yesterday, Halevi appeared to issue a veiled rebuke of any government officials who are considering maintaining the haredi sector's blanket IDF and national service draft exemption. Speaking at the navy's captain's graduate course on Wednesday, Halevi said, "We promise at all times that our victims, those who have fallen, will not have been in vain. There is no other way to do this other than to be drafted for substantial service, to adorn the uniform, and to become commanders."A group of ultra-Orthodox Jews blocked traffic and the light rail in Jerusalem demonstrating against a Haredi draft into the IDF. February 26, 2024. (credit: SOL SUSSMAN) Halevi's comments came as Defense Minister Yoav Gallant lined up alongside War Minister Benny Gantz, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, and others against the government's haredi parties over the issue. In addition, Halevi and Gallant's aggressive stances have also potentially pitted them against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who, in principle, is in favor of additional haredi service but, in practice, has been a major enabler of their exemption to maintain their political backing for his various governments over the years. It is still unclear whether the sides will reach some kind of compromise on the issue, whether Netanyahu will try to push through what the haredim want at the expense of losing Gantz and possibly even Gallant, or whether the disagreements over potential solutions will eventually cause the government to fall entirely. ...قراءة المزيد

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2024-02-26

The October 7 earthquake will fundamentally change Israel’s landscape for generations. It will change the , it will change how it views the prospects for peace, and it will change the army. One of the most glaring lessons from October 7, one the country doesn’t even need to wait for findings of a state commission of inquiry to figure out, is that it needs a bigger army. A much bigger army. The fantasy that after 75 years and numerous wars Israel’s enemies realize that the Jewish state can’t be defeated, and that Israel has achieved a level of deterrence to keep any actor -- even a non-state actor -- from doing anything crazy because they know they would get clobbered in return, crashed and burned on October 7. One of the outgrowths of this fantasy was that though Israel is surrounded by enemies ideologically committed to its destruction, it could suffice with a small, super technologically smart army with state-of-the-art bells and whistles and sensors and super sensitive fences. A group of ultra-Orthodox Jews blocked traffic and the light rail in Jerusalem demonstrating against a Haredi draft into the IDF. February 26, 2024. (credit: SOL SUSSMAN)  But, on October 7, the more than 3,000 bloodthirsty Hamas terrorists who invaded proved all of that to be an illusion. Within minutes, all the high-tech bells and whistles and sensors were neutralized, and there were too few soldiers, too few boots on the ground, to block their murderous advance. Israel found on October 7 that it needed bodies to fight the enemy and, at that moment, simply did not have enough. So the terrorists sacked kibbutzim and cities and even army bases that did not have enough soldiers to defend them. To prevent that from ever happening again, the IDF needs soldiers—lots of them. If, on October 7, there were only four battalions in the Gaza Division protecting that border and two-and-a-half battalions on the northern border facing off against Hezbollah, those numbers need to increase exponentially. Only if residents of the northern border and Gaza border communities feel the p -- not just a few hundred -- will they feel safe to return to their homes even after Hamas is dismantled and Hezbollah is pushed further north of the border. More soldiers are desperately needed, and they can’t be pulled from the 24 battalions currently in Judea and Samaria because the residents there need security, too.  So where does the army get that additional manpower? Where does it find those feet to fill the boots desperately needed on the ground? Immigration? Forget about it; it is not a realistic option. Despite the rise in antisemitism, world Jewry won’t be moving here en masse anytime soon to fill in the gaps in the military. The army, needing a quick-fix solution, put forward its own earlier this month: add to the burden already carried by those in the IDF, both regular soldiers and reservists. Extend the regular tour of duty, add more days of reserved duty each year for the reservists, and make them serve not until they are 42, but rather 45 or even longer. But that is an unfair solution since it means adding to the load of those already carrying more than their fair share of the country’s security burden. The other idea is to widen the circle of conscripts. And it is that idea which, yet again, came before the High Court of Justice on Monday when a panel of three judges heard a petition against the government’s decision not to draft yeshiva students. The question of draft exemptions for yeshiva students is as old as the state itself, and the failure to reach an equitable solution has dogged the country and been a recurring source of friction between the secular and ultra-Orthodox communities for decades. But this time, it is different. This time, the issue is not a political one; it is not being used merely as a club to bludgeon the haredi population. This time, the issue is taking on existential dimensions. Despite what many thought, Israel’s security is not guaranteed. October 7 rammed that message home. The country no longer has the luxury of exempting 13% of the Jewish population from carrying the security burden. The counter-argument that the IDF has enough soldiers and doesn’t really need the haredim, but just wants to conscript them to make a point, no longer holds water. The IDF really does need more soldiers. The haredi community realizes this, which is why some voices have been raised inside Shas saying that those not studying in yeshivot should be serving. This is also why there was a who, after October 7, volunteered for Shlav Bet service,  a truncated army service followed by years of reserve duty. According to testimony given by IDF officials last week at the Knesset’s State Control Committee, some 66,000 haredim aged 21-26 were exempted from conscription this year on the grounds of being yeshiva students. Each year, some 12,000 to 13,000 haredim get yeshiva draft exemptions. According to a 2022 report, some 33% of draft-aged Jewish males who should be reporting for army service are not doing so. While the ultra-Orthodox account for 16% of this figure, some 8.3% of army-aged youth are also getting out of service based on mental-health exemptions. The rest either have run into trouble with the law, are exempt because of physical health issues, or are abroad. Israel no longer has the luxury to afford this, neither haredim who are not serving nor allowing more than 8% of the eligible conscripts out of service based on mental-health exemptions, many of which are believed to be fictitious. Haredi youth enlist in the IDF’s Nachal Haredi unit at ‘Bakum,’ the IDF induction center. (credit: JONATHAN SHAUL) Nor, by the way, does it have the luxury anymore, especially as it extends the length of regular service, to give religious soldiers in the hesder program that combines military service with yeshiva studies as truncated a military service as is currently the case. There is also a need to review the exemptions given to women of draft age on religious grounds. Israel, overnight, is not going to go from zero to 100 with regard to haredi conscription. Tens of thousands of haredi youth will not abandon the yeshiva study hall en masse and join the army, nor should that be the expectation. However, not all those 12,000 to 13,000 haredi youth getting deferments each year are studying full time in yeshivot. Not everyone is capable of that, nor wants it. And that segment of the population- those who don’t like to or cannot learn full-time- should be the initial target of conscription efforts. This will take a shift of mentality amid leading haredi rabbis and political figures. But, according to polls, much of the haredi public is already there.  A survey in December conducted by the Haredi Institute for Public Affairs found that 70% of the haredi community agrees that a haredi individual not studying Torah should contribute to the country through military/national/civil service. Another 51% of haredim polled disagree with haredim receiving a blanket exemption from IDF conscription. The problem is that, with but a few exceptions, that sentiment has yet to filter up to the community’s rabbis and political leaders. The IDF itself could help grow this sentiment by developing programs for haredim that would enable the haredi conscripts to continue living a haredi lifestyle and even studying while doing army service. Yediot Ahronot on Monday reported a proposal to create a haredi yeshiva at a border crossing at one of the quieter borders -- such as with Jordan -- where haredim would be posted permanently in an environment conducive to their lifestyle, meaning -- among other elements -- that there would be no female soldiers posted there.  A similar type of proposal is being developed in the Air Force. While these ideas may ruffle the feathers of those who want to see the IDF as an altogether gender egalitarian institution, with no gender separation anywhere, if this value clashes with the importance of getting more haredim in the army, the former may need to give way. Those plans are still very much in the preliminary stages. But that they are even being considered is a good sign, as is the increased readiness of some in the haredi community to serve. If there is will on the one hand and a readiness to create new frameworks inside the army hospitable to haredim on the other,  then October 7 may prove to be a catalyst for a very significant societal change. ...قراءة المزيد

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2024-02-26

A group of blocked traffic and the light rail on Monday during a protest in Jerusalem demonstrating against a , according to police and eyewitness reports. The protest took place at the intersection of Sarei Israel Boulevard and Nordau Street. Police subsequently arrived at the scene and began efforts to restore order, the police noted, adding that traffic officers were directing vehicles in the area to alternate routes. A Jerusalem Post intern at the scene reported witnessing one of the Haredim at the protest blocking a car. The orthodox Jewish man persisted in blocking the vehicle even as it drove forward. A police officer subsequently pulled the man out of the way, resulting in an altercation between the two. A group of ultra-Orthodox Jews blocked traffic and the light rail in Jerusalem demonstrating against a Haredi draft into the IDF. February 26, 2024. (credit: SOL SUSSMAN) According to the eyewitness testimony, the began to drag the man away before other Haredi men separated the two. Protest signs at the scene read, "We say to the high court, to prison and not to the army.'  ...قراءة المزيد

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