Interior Minister Moshe Arbel of Shas said that the ultra-Orthodox public should take a larger share of the burden of military service. Arbel's words came against the background of a letter from a group of Sephardic rabbis opposing conscription.
Hours after the publication of his words, the Shas clarified: "The issue is entrusted exclusively to Marnan and Rabbi of the Council of Torah Sages of Lithuania" The pressure from the rabbis affiliated with Shas as well as from leaders affiliated with Torah Judaism causes the party to present a more extreme position than the one it has presented for years, writes Yossi Ben-Ghiat, a former member of the party's Shas Torah Council. The rabbis They are even attacking the possibility of advancing a law with goals and quotas as some of the ultra.Orthodox factions have already agreed, he says. The High Court of Justice ordered that as of April 1, the validity of the government's decision exempting ultra-orthodox whose "teaching is their art" from enlisting in the army will expire.