On video: Gallant's statement on the recruitment law 28.02.24/le
Much is said about the political meaning of Yoav Galant's statement on Wednesday, but this statement also has a legal-legal meaning.
The dramatic words of the Minister of Defense of the State of Israel, which are largely based on the statement of Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi from about a week and a half ago, are in fact a prelude to the collapse of the legal concept that allowed voluntary conscription among ultra-Orthodox, a concept that was based on the principle: "quantity is quality".
The High Court hearing on the recruitment of the ultra-Orthodox, this week/Flash 90, Yonatan Zindel
Half an anniversary has passed since the Rubinstein High Court of Justice ruled that it accepted the petition that challenged the "Torah and Art" arrangement that exists in Israel instead of the state. the matter in legislation.
Since then, as we have described here many times in the last few weeks, we are in an endless struggle that goes from committee to committee, from legislation to legislation and from the High Court to the High Court.
The guiding legal principle for all these years was: we will not oblige the ultra-orthodox to enlist, as long as voluntary mechanisms, one or the other, show a sharp increase in the recruitment curve of yeshiva members.
The High Court defined it as: "quantity is quality." The figures were embarrassing, so the High Court rejected the proposed legal arrangements.
On the other hand, the public impulse in this matter decreased, in part because the security establishment, led by the IDF, did not convey urgency to recruit ultra-Orthodox. Then came Shabbat in October 2023.
About a week and a half ago, Chief of Staff Halevi said things that none of his predecessors dared to say.
After describing the heavy burden that sits on the shoulders of the regular and reserve servants, he went through an unnatural transition to the issue of recruitment: "In these challenging days, one thing is very clear - everyone needs to mobilize to defend the home. This is a different time. What was before it will be re-examined. We Immediate recruitment solutions are now being advanced to complete our ranks, in view of the continuation of the fighting... The IDF has always sought to bring to its ranks from all sections of Israeli society.
This war illustrates the need to change.
To join the service, to protect the home.... We will know how to produce the right solutions and conditions for every population that will join this noble mission."
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He said what others did not dare.
Chief of Staff Halevi/IDF spokesman
In his words, the Chief of Staff referred to two issues - one physical and one moral - which in fact were the same. One is that the IDF simply needs more soldiers, and the other is that from a moral point of view (even if there were enough fighters), at this time all sections of the population should mobilize.
His words were said at a time when two pieces of legislation are on the table - the one requested by the security establishment, the main of which is the extension of the military service of regular and reserve soldiers.
And the second, another series of not recruiting members of Yeshivot - a law that is very mistakenly called: "The Recruitment Law".
As a reminder, Israel has one conscription law and it is the "Defence Service Law" - the law that states that everyone who reaches the age of 18 must be conscription into the IDF. Hence, all the legislations that have dealt with the conscription of ultra-Orthodox up until now are not intended to regulate conscription, but rather to regulate non-conscription in one way or another.
As mentioned, the Defense Minister's special announcement last night has political implications, but it also has a dramatic legal significance. Galant is exposed to the IDF's data, to the needs of the defense system, and in fact says, even if not in these words, that the voluntary concept can no longer work in the practical test, simply Because the IDF needs more soldiers and now. Gallant says this: on the one hand, the system needs recruits now, and on the other hand, it will not do this without the regularization of recruiting ultra-Orthodox. Beyond the legislative binding between the issue of the ultra-Orthodox and the issue of extending the service, he also binds the matter with a broad consensus of all parts of the current coalition, i.e. with the consent of Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot.
spoke from the throats of the members of the security establishment.
Galant/Ministry of Defense
On Monday, the High Court of Justice issued a conditional order to the state and stated that it must explain how exactly the government's decision to extend the non-conscription of the ultra-Orthodox is valid, even though the law regulating their non-conscription has already expired, and why the members of the Yeshiva are not being conscripted immediately. The conditional order also requires the state to provide explanations about So in the current situation, the yeshiva are still budgeted. The state must give the answers to the questions of recruiting the ultra-Orthodox by March 24, and the issue of budgeting by March 31. The
legal advisor to the government and her predecessors have always defended the government regarding the recruitment of the ultra-Orthodox, while relying on the positions of the professional ranks in the security system. The professional ranks They spoke yesterday from Gallant's throat, and said: No more. We need more soldiers and a lot of them, and after 25 years we really have no way to back up voluntary concepts.
Yeshiva students at the recruiting office (photographs have no relation to the news)/Reuven Castro
There is some public deception, which we in the studios are quite guilty of.
We rightfully host the heroic ultra-Orthodox who lead the public associations that encourage the recruitment of ultra-Orthodox to the IDF, but we do not put things in the right context enough. On the one hand, these are excellent guys who do everything to promote the cause. On the other hand, they create the feeling as if These are big processes and they are not - they are minor. On the one hand, they themselves do it, recruit and encourage recruitment, on the other hand, they oppose any requirement by law to do so. "It won't work," they repeat and say in the studios.
Well, we are in a country of law and a country A law has equality before the law. By the way, in the Gemara it is written: "The one who does the mitzvah is greater than the one who does not have the mitzvah and does it". Because he volunteers to do, but there is really nothing to compare him to someone who carries the duty on his shoulders. This is the daily duty to the society of which he is a part and his duty to the values on which it rests.
If the state does not produce legislation by the end of March, it would not be unreasonable to estimate that the Supreme Court in an expanded composition will require her to do so by June.
If the Knesset again enacts an unequal law, which regulates non-conscription and is again mainly based on the good will of the members of the Yeshiva, it would not be unreasonable to estimate that the High Court will clarify this time that the voluntary concept died on October 7th.
More on the same topic:
Haredim recruitment
High Court
Yoav Galant
IDF
The conscription law