Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government, already under pressure from left-wing protests and predictions of the collapse of the U.S. intelligence community, faces a new challenge in the fight over drafting the Religious Soldiers bill.
Members of Israel’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish community are exempt from military service under a policy that Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion allowed religious scholars to avoid military service in the state’s early years.
But as the religious population grows, dissatisfaction grows among the remaining Israelis, who are burdened by conscription (and taxes, as many religious institutions are subsidized by the state).
Many ultra-Orthodox Israelis have volunteered to help the country in other ways, especially as first responders. But in the wake of the October 7 terrorist attacks and the mass mobilization of reservists, a new impetus for reform emerged.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government, which includes some opposition politicians in a nationally united emergency government, is grappling with how to resolve deep-seated questions about the religion draft.
of challenge If the law is too ambitious, some religious and Haredi (meaning “trembling” in honor of God) parties could leave Prime Minister Netanyahu’s coalition government. At the same time, centrist Benny Gantz remains backed by opposition parties outside the government and has threatened to leave the coalition if the law is not ambitious enough. Israel’s attorney general also weighed in, indicating that the current bill will not pass the judicial assembly.
The puzzle could fulfill U.S. intelligence agencies’ bizarre predictions that Netanyahu’s coalition would collapse. Or it could represent a solution to one of Israel’s most difficult problems, one of the few positive outcomes of a devastating war.
Joel B. Pollack is a senior editor at Breitbart News. Breitbart News Sunday Sunday nights from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM ET (4:00 PM to 7:00 PM PT) on Sirius XM Patriot. He is the author of recent books.The Zionist conspiracy (and how to join it)‘ is now available on Audible. He is also the author of an e-book. Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 US Presidential Election. He is the recipient of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter @joelpolak.
