Ahead of Remembrance Day, the National Insurance Institute published last week statistics on Israel’s fallen since 1851, as it does every year. Since this time last year, 316 soldiers were killed, along with 61 disabled veterans who passed away from their wounds, and were recognized as fallen soldiers during the year.
Casualties during a war are unavoidable, but that is not the whole story here. The ultra-Orthodox community, which makes up about 14% of the broader Israeli population, and is expected to grow to 16% by 2030, per the Israel Democracy Institute, does not shoulder this burden – not nearly enough.
More than a lack of manpower, it is a painful affront to those who do serve – from all across the political and social spectrum. They do it without question, with a sense of duty, and from a place of understanding that if we are here and want to live securely, we must equally carry the weight.
Ynet’s political correspondent Moran Azoulay analyzed the situation correctly when she wrote last week that the glue holding the coalition together is at risk of coming apart – from internal strife, but also because of the draft issue.
That the coalition managed to pass the budget against all odds is impressive, especially because of the threats of haredi leaders to pull out if the law isn’t done to their liking, she wrote.
The draft framework proposed by Defense Minister Israel Katz would have a steady 50% increase in haredi drafts over seven years. His methods of application though are not acceptable to Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Yuli Edelstein (Likud), who wants more. His committee is where the issue is currently being debated.
Edelstein has been meeting for months now with families that are falling apart under the load of the constant rounds of service. Azoulay noted that without any resolution, the coalition will have a hard time lasting through the summer session.
One interesting angle through which to examine this precarious situation is by glancing at the Religious-Zionist community, which is notable in its consolidation of Torah study and a religious lifestyle, with Zionist commitment, which shows itself in service.
Religious Zionist Party head Bezalel Smotrich, who claims to represent this community, however, according to recent polls, barely passes the threshold. Polls change all the time, and must be taken with a grain of salt, but this already shows where the wind is blowing. If his voters are exhausted and worn, even more so the rest of the serving population in the country.
Religious Zionist Party MK and Aliyah and Integration Minister Ofir Sofer took a harsh stance on the matter on Wednesday when he wrote, “If a dramatic change doesn’t take place within haredi leadership, I will object to the law that is proposed.”
He continued, “I will only support a law that produces mass drafting, in line with what the IDF and the defense establishment needs right now... The burden cannot keep falling only on select parts of the population.”
The concerns of the haredi community for its continuity are understandable, but times have changed: The status quo that has existed until now simply cannot continue.
For years, the political approach favored dialogue instead of force, but that yielded no results. Instead, the haredi community dug its heels in and insisted on continuing its way. In order to live where we live, and to continue to do so in relative safety, the army needs more men – as it has told the government repeatedly over the past year.
Politicians afraid to put their foot down to address the haredi draft issue
These men exist, but politicians are too afraid of putting their foot down and their money where their mouths are – to insist that this is a redline, that morally, we all share in this burden, and that Torah study, which has been successfully carried out by Diaspora communities for generations, will continue to flourish with every eligible person serving in the army.
This isn’t about Torah, it’s about preserving a self-sufficient community structure that services only its own. Sooner or later, the kettle will blow, and Israeli society will be left with the consequences, fighting each other as only we can.
Edelstein has given every indication that he won’t back down on something less than what the army needs. Let’s hope this materializes.