The Israeli army will begin sending notices of conscription to men studying in spiritual schools who are no longer exempt from military service. Calls are to be sent from this week until the planned condition of 54,000 recruits.
The armed forces have besides announced a tightening of sanctions against those who deviate from the draft and deserters. This decision ends decades of peculiar treatment for ultraorthodox Jews, called charedim.
The ultimate Court ends with privileges
For decades, ultraorthodox Jews had been collectively exempted from compulsory military service in Israel. In the summertime of 2024, the ultimate Court ruled that there was no basis for peculiar treatment of this group and ordered the government to initiate the appointment of ultraorthodox to the army.
Religious parties in the current cabinet are seeking to pass a law exempting charedim from the draft. At the beginning of June, they threatened Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to vote for the resolution of parliament, which would affect fresh elections.
Compromise on the collection
Group representatives The United Judaism Torah (UTJ) and the Sephardic Torah defender organization (Shas) yet agreed to further work on the compromise version of the bill. It is intended to include only part of the charedim, but besides to exacerbate sanctions for evasion.
On Sunday, UTJ and Szas MPs threatened that if the bill was not accelerated, they would consider boycotting Parliament meetings. The Ultraorthodox emphasize that military service is incompatible with their way of life, and by conscription young men may depart from the faith.
Social controversy is growing
The case is controversial in Israeli society. The secular groups are in favour of charedim's conscription, referring to social solidarity and arguing that collective dismissals cannot be accepted at a time erstwhile the country is at war and soldiers die in combat.
Since the ultimate Court ruling, the army has called for the collection of 10,000 charedim. According to data from early April, yet 205 of them enlisted.
Protests and clashes with police
Ultraorthodox regularly hold protests against drafts, during which clashes happen with police. This community treats military service as a threat to its conventional lifestyle and spiritual values.
From Jerusalem Jerzy Adamiak (PAP) Note: This article was edited with Artificial Intelligence.
