Drafting the ultra-Orthodox + New Episode: Lebanon
7 min read // New podcast episode: Eyes on Lebanon
A major political crisis is brewing. Last week I wrote about the dim prospects for bringing down Benjamin Netanyahu’s government anytime soon. But if there is an issue that could, it’s coming to the fore right now: the long-running argument over ultra-Orthodox military service. At question isn’t just the considerable needs of the post-October 7 military, but the nature of Israeli society’s values: are we all in this together or not? Can one group be expected to shoulder all the sacrifice, while another gets to sit it all out?
Most Israelis — men and women — are required to serve in the military beginning at age 18. In 1948, Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben Gurion, exempted 400 ultra-Orthodox students from military service so they could instead continue their religious studies. Why? The ultra-Orthodox had been devastated by the Holocaust, which destroyed centuries of scholarship, Torah study, and a culture of learning. There was a sense that the new State of Israel, though founded on secular Zionist principles, should also be a place where Jewish scholarship is elevated as an important value in its own right, reconstituting the prewar religious culture of Europe. There was also the politics of Ben Gurion wanting the support of the ultra-Orthodox.
What was 400 exemptions in the late 1940s is now 65,000. The ultra-Orthodox today comprise 13% of Israel’s population, and a majority of them are under the age of 21. What was once intended for a small group of extraordinary scholars learning at the highest level, now applies to just about every ultra-Orthodox young man who can find a yeshiva (religious academy) to vouch for him.
In an effort to preserve their pre-Holocaust traditional way of life, the ultra-Orthodox (known as haredim or haredi) carved out a separate society from mainstream Israel, segregating themselves from modern life. They have their own schools, media, dating culture, etc — rules and obligations that strictly adhere to halacha, Jewish law.
The ultra-Orthodox are able to effect this separation through three major efforts:
Voting: The haredim vote in huge numbers, ensuring significant political influence through several parties that seat lots of Knesset members. This makes them parliamentary kingmakers: since a coalition needs them to form a majority, would-be prime ministers are eager to meet haredi demands. These include…
The welfare state: tons of taxpayer funding to a sprawling welfare state that especially includes their networks of yeshivot — religious studies academies for young men where almost no secular subjects are taught. Because ultra-Orthodox men spend most of their lives in study, and women spend most of their lives having and then caring for tons of children, the haredi communities would otherwise be destitute without state support. An important part of this is…
Army exemption: haredim worry that army service will expose their young men to secular, modern life when they should be spending these years studying Torah. Army service comes at a crucial age for marriage and having their first children. Delaying that by even a few years would severely disrupt ultra-Orthodox society.
Some of this is fair game, of course. In a democracy, people are allowed to band together to pursue their common interests through their elected representatives. But for decades now secular Israelis have chafed at the huge expenditures of public funding to a group that essentially wants nothing to do with the public; that doesn’t participate in common enterprises like the modern economy and national defense. And they are increasingly angry at Netanyahu for accommodating the haredi parties in opposition to what the mainstream see as the national interest.
So what can be done?
In 1998 the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that this blanket mass exemption from military service is illegal. But since then every government has extended the exemption while kicking the legislative can down the road, not wanting to antagonize the haredi parties.
Now, in the wake of October 7 and the war with Hamas (and potential war with Lebanon: see my latest episode below), the Knesset may take up two related bills relating to military service. The first would extend the length of conscription (from about 2.5 years for men to 3 years) and the age to which reservists can be called up (from 40 to 45). The second bill would make permanent in law the ultra-Orthodox exemption from military service. So one group gets a greater burden imposed on them, the other a complete exemption.
Since October 7, around 500 ultra-Orthodox men have enlisted in the IDF, an admirable commitment; other haredim engage in voluntary activities in support of the war effort. Yet at a time of extraordinary national crisis, when it’s all-hands-on-deck and hundreds of thousands of Israelis are experiencing grave danger to fight in defense of Israel, you can see why these two bills are engendering a significant bout of resentment and grievance.
The majority of Israelis support continuing the war against Hamas, but a majority also oppose the two bills. Not because they don’t want to serve but because they want to share the burden. Even though the haredim try to live separate from the secular, they still benefit from the protections of the army, after all. And this is a national crisis.
There might be a compromise solution. Instead of the military, the ultra-Orthodox could be drafted into some other kind of civilian national service, and could remain within their own haredi units as much as possible. But so far the ultra-Orthodox are refusing to consider that.
The ultra-Orthodox made their support for Netanyahu conditional on his supporting a permanent exemption. Will they bolt if Netanyahu’s Knesset majority fails to take up the second bill? If they do, that would cause new elections and, polls suggest, a major defeat for Netanyahu.
This Week’s Episode: Eyes on Lebanon
Tens of thousands of Israeli reservists were pulled out of Gaza just to be rushed to the border with Lebanon. Hezbollah has attacked Israel daily since October 7, and the conflict is intensifying. Will there be a war? Today’s episode looks briefly at Israel’s past experiences with war in Lebanon, and its leaders consider what to do about the world’s most powerful terrorist group menacing Israel’s entire northern region.
Find the podcast episode here, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Find the written transcript below:
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Picture of the Day
The Israel-Lebanon border. From Kibbutz Misgav Am in Israel, looking into Odaisseh (foreground) and Kfar Kela (background). The border fence runs along the bottom of the photo.
Hezbollah has launched several attacks on Israel from this area; the IDF recently struck back at Hezbollah targets. Thousands of civilians on both sides of the line have been displaced.
Photo: Jason Harris
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