Watan-Amid the crisis of enlisting the ultra-Orthodox Jews (Haredim), the Chief Rabbi of Israel, Yitzhak Yosef, made rare statements, including a direct threat to the government, revealing the magnitude of the crisis.
This occurred during his weekly lecture, addressing the ongoing debate over the imposition of mandatory military service on the religious, who had been exempt since the establishment of the state of Israel.
Israeli media quoted the Chief Rabbi saying, “The religious cannot be taken for enlistment under any circumstances, no matter what… If they are forced to go to the army, we will all travel abroad together.”
He added, “All these secular people do not understand that without religious schools, the army would not succeed, as the soldiers succeeded only thanks to the people of the Torah.”
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تصريح احدث هزه كبيرة في إسرائيل
الحاخام الاكبر يستحاق يوسف
اذا اجبرونا على الذهاب للجيش سوف نغادر جميعنا البلاد pic.twitter.com/uqBumtlqo9— موشى يائير יאיר משה (@mosha3324) March 9, 2024
These statements sparked widespread reactions, with Minister of Defense in the Israeli government, Benny Gantz, stating that everyone, including the Haredim (ultra-Orthodox Jews), must participate in military service during this challenging time.
He further mentioned that the words of the Chief Sephardic Rabbi “represent moral damage to the state and the Israeli society.”
Meanwhile, the leader of the “Yisrael Beiteinu” party, Avigdor Lieberman, accused Chief Rabbi Yitzhak of endangering the security of Israel.
Israeli National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, stated, “We believe in resolving the enlistment issue through understanding, and serving in the army is a great privilege for a Jew defending himself and his country.”
Storm of Haredi Enlistment Crisis
A stormy crisis arises in Israel due to the issue of enlisting religious Jews or “Haredim,” threatening the stability of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
In June 2023, Netanyahu’s government passed a decision ordering the Israeli army not to enlist students from Haredi religious institutes for nine months, pending the formulation of a new law.
According to the news site “Wynet,” the temporary order issued by the government expires on March 31. If a law regulating the issue is not presented in the Knesset by that time, the army will be required to enlist the Haredim starting April 1.
The Israeli Supreme Court has considered appeals urging the government to enlist students from Haredi Jewish schools in the army. In 2017, the court deemed the blanket exemptions from military service for Haredi students “discriminatory and illegal.”
The participation of Haredim in the army is one of the most sensitive and tension-inducing issues in Israel, as secular individuals oppose the exemption of religious Jews from military service.
Recently, the army revealed plans to add time to the mandatory service conditions for recruits, delay the retirement of some reserve soldiers, and increase the number of mandatory service days they must perform annually. This sparked wide political controversy, reaching the streets.