As Israel faces a protracted war in Gaza, broad exemptions from mandatory military service enjoyed by ultra-Orthodox men have reopened a
deep divide in the country
and unnerved the governing coalition, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's colleagues in The War Cabinet strongly oppose the new conscription law he proposes.
At the end of the month, the Israeli government is due to introduce a law to increase recruitment among members of the religious community.
As the deadline approaches,
public discourse has become increasingly toxic,
a change from the displays of unity at the beginning of the war.
Netanyahu's government has so far survived the public anguish caused by the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that sparked the war, but the draft issue has put it in a bind.
The disintegration of the War Cabinet, made up of three members, would affect the stability of the country at a delicate moment in the war.
But
a defeat by the ultra-Orthodox parties would bring down his broad governing coalition
and force the country to hold new elections, at a time when he and his Likud party are trailing far behind in opinion polls.
"From a political point of view, this is one of the most concrete threats to the government," said Gilad Malach, an ultra-Orthodox expert at the Israel Institute for Democracy, a Jerusalem think tank.
Most Jewish men are required to do military service for almost three years and then serve years in the reserves.
Jewish women serve two mandatory years.
But the ultra-Orthodox, politically powerful and representative of about 13% of Israeli society,
are traditionally exempt
if they study full-time in religious seminaries.
The exceptions—and the government subsidies that many seminary students receive until age 26—infuriate the general population.
Israeli police take away an ultra-Orthodox Jew during a protest in Jerusalem against recruitment to the Armed Forces, in a file image.
Photo: REUTERS
Political fight
The Supreme Court has ruled that the current system is discriminatory and has given the government until April 1 to present a bill and until June 30 to approve it.
Yoav Gallant y Benny Gantz -que junto con Netanyahu forman el Gabinete de Guerra- dicen que la ley propuesta por el primer ministro no va lo suficientemente lejos como para aumentar el número de ultraortodoxos que se alistarán en el ejército. Los detractores sostienen que algunos aspectos, como el elevar la edad de excepción, podrían incluso reducir ese número.
Gantz, principal rival político de Netanyahu, dijo que abandonaría el Gabinete si la ley de alistamiento se debilitara o no se sancionara en el plazo previsto. El ministro de Defensa Gallant advirtió que sólo apoyaría una nueva ley con el respaldo de Gantz y los miembros más de centro del gobierno de emergencia del país en tiempos de guerra.
El gobierno está compuesto por partidos ultraortodoxos y ultranacionalistas religiosos a los que, en los primeros días de la guerra, se sumó una facción liderada por ex generales, entre ellos Gantz. La alianza pretendía dar una muestra de unidad tras el 7 de octubre, pero los partidos tienen grandes diferencias respecto de la cuestión del servicio militar obligatorio.
Movilización de reservistas y población indignada
Tras el ataque de Hamas, Israel convocó a 360.000 reservistas, la mayor movilización desde la guerra de Oriente Medio de 1973. Muchos ya han sido dados de baja, pero se prevé que volverán al servicio activo en los próximos meses. La prolongación del servicio de los reservistas y las conversaciones sobre extender el servicio militar obligatorio han profundizado la indignación de la población.
En la mayoría judía de Israel, el servicio militar obligatorio se considera un crisol de culturas y un rito de iniciación. Los ultraortodoxos dicen que integrarse al ejército pondrá en peligro su modo de vida, que lleva generaciones, y que su estilo de vida devoto y su dedicación al cumplimiento de los mandamientos judíos protegen a Israel tanto como un ejército fuerte.
"Preferimos morir a servir en el ejército israelí", dijo Yona Kruskal, de 42 años, padre de 11 hijos y estudiante de seminario a tiempo completo, mientras la semana pasada cortaba el tránsito en Jerusalén con otras 200 personas durante una de las frecuentes protestas contra la ley de reclutamiento.
"No hay manera de que nos obliguen a ir al ejército, porque estamos totalmente convencidos de que el ejército y la religión se contradicen", agregó.
La policía forcejea con un hombre ultraortodoxo durante una marcha en Jerusalén días atrás para exigir el reclutamiento obligatorio para las Fuerzas Armadas. Foto: AP
Mientras los ultraortodoxos se peleaban con la policía en la protesta, otros israelíes los increpaban gritando "¡Vergüenza! ¡Vergüenza!
“Mis amigos están sentados en Gaza mientras ustedes están aquí, sentados en el suelo", gritó un hombre. Una mujer gritó a los manifestantes que su hijo estaba combatiendo en Gaza para protegerlos.
Oren Shvill, founder of Brothers in Arms, a protest group representing reservist soldiers who oppose Netanyahu, said the ultra-Orthodox enjoy the protection of the military without participating.
"There is one law for everyone and it must be applied equally," he said.
Economists say the system is unsustainable
.
With its high birth rate, the ultra-Orthodox community is the fastest growing segment of the population, at around 4% annually.
Each year, about 13,000 ultra-Orthodox men reach the draft age of 18, but fewer than 10% enlist, according to the Israeli parliament's State Control Commission, which recently held a hearing on the issue.
"One of the things that was debatable before and is now much clearer is that we need more soldiers," said Yoaz Hendel, a former Netanyahu adviser and Cabinet minister who just finished four months of service as a reservist commanding a unit. of special forces.
He said the burden of service should be shared equally among all sections of the population.
The rift between Israelis
The commotion caused by the October 7 attack seemed to arouse some enthusiasm among the ultra-Orthodox, but no mass enlistment took place, according to Israeli media.
The army did not agree to make statements about the enlistment rate of the ultra-Orthodox.
The debate has long divided Israel
, and a series of court rulings have repeatedly found the system unfair.
But Israeli leaders, under pressure from ultra-Orthodox parties, have repeatedly delayed the issue.
It is unclear whether Netanyahu will be able to do it again.
Disagreements over the exceptions worsened last year when Netanyahu's government moved forward with an overhaul of the legal system supported by the government's ultra-Orthodox partners, who sought to overturn court rulings on mandatory military service.
The government suspended the reform after the outbreak of the war.
The military has attempted to accommodate the ultra-Orthodox by creating separate units that allow them to maintain their religious practices, such as minimizing interaction with women.
Ephraim Luff, 65, a full-time seminary student in the ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak, rejected those initiatives, saying that the men who enlist in such units are not "true haredim," as the ultra-Orthodox are known in Hebrew. .
"The army is the final stage of Israeli education to turn people into secular Israelis and disconnect them from their Jewish heritage," said Luff, who recounted how one of his eight children "went off the path" of full-time study and He served in the military as a truck driver for a year and a half.
One of the country's two chief rabbis, Yitzhak Yosef, declared this month that the ultra-Orthodox "will all move abroad" if they are forced to enlist.
The statement drew both condemnation, for prompting Israelis to leave during a national crisis, and ridicule, because many secular Israelis would have no problem with the ultra-Orthodox leaving en masse, said Malach of the Israel Institute for Democracy.
On the contrary, the refusal of ultra-Orthodox leaders to compromise even as other sectors of Israeli society make significant sacrifices has caused a larger portion of public opinion to become hostile to them, Malach said.
"In this government, I don't see a real opportunity for change," he said.
"But if there are elections and there is a coalition without haredim or with weakened haredim, there could be a change."
Source:
The Associated Press
Translation: Elisa Carnelli
C.B.