The most prominent spiritual authority for ultra-Orthodox Jews (Haredi) in the Israeli occupation entity warned of the war declared by the authorities (occupying Gaza City as a prelude to occupying the Gaza Strip) and their intention to recruit members of this movement into military service.
The ultra-Orthodox newspaper Yated Ne’eman quoted Rabbi Dov Landau as saying, “The Israeli authorities will face a unified global ultra-Orthodox Jewish movement fighting for its survival.”
The ultra-Orthodox Jews constitute 14% of the Israeli population, or approximately 1.3 million people, including 66,000 men of military age who are exempt from conscription.
The Israeli army announced in early July that conscription applications would be sent to thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews who had previously been exempted from military service, a matter that threatens the future of the coalition government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu.
Two extremist parties have since then withdrawn from the government, but are awaiting the government’s approval of a law making the exemption permanent.
Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) men have enjoyed a de facto exemption from military service for decades, provided they devote themselves to full-time study of Jewish holy texts in yeshivas.
The Supreme Court challenged this exemption in the first decade of the 21st century, forcing successive cabinets to implement temporary legislative arrangements to appease the ultra-Orthodox, who can form and bring down coalitions.
Last week, the coalition dismissed the chairman of the parliamentary Defense Committee, Yuli Edelstein, a member of Netanyahu’s Likud party, for attempting to pass a law imposing penalties on ultra-Orthodox dissidents.
More extreme ultra-Orthodox groups regularly demonstrate against calls to enlist under the slogan “I’d rather die than be drafted,” and rabbis, including a former chief rabbi, have called on their followers to leave the country if the exemption is not legally extended.
Source: Websites
