Coalition partners in tense standoff on equal service law

Coalition partners in tense standoff on equal service law

Yesh Atid accused Likud of deviating from coalition deal regarding enlistment reform, while Likud says Yesh Atid is trying to distract the public while it heals from budget crisis criticism • Pro-equality groups: Disband the Peri committee.

Shlomo Cesana and Israel Hayom Staff
Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon has asked to play the main role in determining sanctions for dodging the draft, drawing the ire of Yesh Atid

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Photo credit: Courtesy

Just a little over two months since it was sworn in, the Israeli coalition government on Monday faced its most serious test over the wording of a proposed bill to include the ultra-Orthodox sector into army and national service. It seemed a replay of the July 2012 exit of Shaul Mofaz from his 70-day coalition with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, where in that case too, the coalition fell apart because Likud was unwilling to punish those in the Haredi sector who refuse to serve.

On Monday, Yesh Atid warned that a crisis over enlistment reform which erupted between the party and Likud-Beytenu on Sunday had the potential to lead to the coalition’s collapse. Yesh Atid accused Likud-Beytenu on Sunday of breaching the coalition deal, which stipulates personal financial sanctions against haredi draft dodgers, after Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon (Likud) asked to have the final say in determining the sanctions for draft dodgers. Yesh Atid saw this as an attempt by Ya’alon to stymie the reform and said that without the „teeth” of financial penalties, the reform in haredi enlistment would not happen.

„The conduct of Likud-Beytenu minister constitutes a blatant violation of the coalition agreement, with the potential to sour the historic opportunity to equalize the burden of military and economic service,” the Yesh Atid Party said in a statement on Monday, adding that applying compulsory military or national service on „the whole population” was a „necessary step toward fostering equality in Israeli society.”

Yesh Atid said that „applying mandatory service and the Defense Service Law on the whole population is a necessary step in fostering equality in Israeli society — failure to do so threatens the coalition’s existence.”

Yesh Atid MK and faction leader Ofer Shelah told Army Radio on Monday that „Yesh Atid will not compromise on the burden-of-equality law.”

Finance Minister and Yesh Atid Chairman Yair Lapid summarily opposed granting Ya’alon a veto power over determining sanctions on draft dodgers, and members of the Yesh Atid faction accused Likud of dismissing the fine print in the coalition deal.

Likud’s response was dismissive. „It’s unclear what Yesh Atid is so angry about … It’s unclear why they need to run to the media and spout all kinds of accusations instead of continuing to participate in discussions until we reach an agreement. Could it be that Yesh Atid is still licking its wounds following the harsh criticism of the state budget? Someone’s trying to obfuscate the public and deflect criticism …”

Economy and Trade Minister Naftali Bennett, caught in the middle between his alliance with Lapid on the one hand and his desire to remain in the coalition on the other, said that despite the seemingly stark differences of opinion and the difficult nature of the issue, the ministerial committee would conclude deliberations within a few days. According to Army Radio, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may intervene to try and mitigate the dispute.

Labor faction Chairman MK Isaac Herzog said the issue „smelled of politics,” according to Israel Radio. Party representatives were playing a political game, he said, adding that the haredi community is undergoing serious social change, and any misstep was liable to cut the entire process.

On Sunday, the ministerial committee led by Science and Technology Minister Yaakov Peri (Yesh Atid), and tasked with finalizing new legislation that would lead to the recruitment of nearly all of-age ultra-Orthodox men to the military and national service, met in an attempt to finalize the reforms so that they could be sent to the cabinet for a vote. Most elements of the legislations that were drawn up by the Peri committee were likely to pass ministerial and Knesset votes, though the interparty disagreements threatened to derail progress.

The prime minister instructed the committee to stick to the draft outline for haredi enlistment reform that was inked during coalition talks in March, which stated that combined yeshiva and military programs („yeshivot hesder”) would not exceed 17 months. Committee member and Housing and Construction Minister Uri Ariel (Habayit Hayehudi) had reservations about this last clause.

As for former Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s insistence that enlistment reform also cover the Arab sector, the committee decided that non-Jews could enlist on a volunteer basis, and that the government would provide incentives for military and national service.

Two issues are still unresolved. The first issue pertains to how the government will penalize draft dodgers. The second issue also deals with enforcement, namely how the government will penalize yeshivot and their heads for submitting false reports.

The Ministerial Committee on Legislation will likely determine these issues. The legislation committee is the next stop for enlistment reform on its way to a Knesset vote. That committee will also decide when to implement the law — the Peri committee had set a three-year mark in 2016, while members of Likud preferred to defer its application for four years, ostensibly after the next general elections.

Unlike the Israel Defense Forces, the Justice Ministry and committee chairman Peri, Defense Minster Moshe Ya’alon is opposed to enforcing the „mandatory conscription” that the committee has proposed, if it does not meet recruitment goals. Following the interim period, everyone would be required to enlist according to the mandatory conscription law, regardless of the defense minister’s prior consideration. Ya’alon has asked to have the final word.

The ministerial committee voted just around midnight, and the result was a 3:3 tie.

All parties agree that of the 8,000 or so of-age haredi men available for enlistment annually, 1,800 „diligent” students should be granted exemptions from military service. The rabbinical authorities would decide which 1,800 students would be considered exemplary and therefore eligible to defer IDF service. If the rabbis fail to cooperate, the IDF will select the 1,800 students. The government has yet to decide which mechanisms would be used to classify „diligent” students. The government could even decide that the 1,800 students would be selected randomly. All other of-age haredi males would be able to defer service until the age of 21. Following their 21st birthdays, those haredim would be summoned to an IDF induction base specially established for the ultra-Orthodox population. IDF officers at these bases would examine recruits and determine who would go on to the induction phase and who would be released because of physical or mental health issues, or other reasons.

The committee also agreed on supervisory mechanisms and financial sanctions on institutions and individuals that do not adhere to the new recruitment laws. In addition, the committee agreed to shorten men’s army service by four months, and to lengthen women’s service by the same amount of time.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was adamant about sticking to the draft outline for enlistment reform that helped end coalition negotiations, and which all the relevant parties had agreed to at the time.

„We are committed to the outline as it was worded in the coalition agreements. Any additions or amendments that Yesh Atid is seeking, will not be,” said the prime minister.

Speaking at a Likud meeting in Jerusalem on Sunday, Netanyahu said, „If we approve any of these changes, every coalition partner will try to pull us in one direction or another and the whole deal will fall apart.”

Netanyahu said that Likud fundamentally supported recruiting Israeli Arabs, but said the current phase of enlistment reform had to remain tied to the coalition agreement. „We, in principle, support the plan to recruit Arabs but, in this first phase, we need to pass the enlistment law as it is [worded] in the coalition deal,” he said.

The defense minister said, „The smart thing to do would be to integrate haredim and minorities, and the right way to do that is through encouragement and facilitation, and not through segregation and loathing.”

Tourism Minister Uzi Landau said, „the Declaration of Independence speaks of equality for all citizens, regardless of religion, gender or race. Whoever tries to exclude the Arabs from the general population is pushing them further into the extremist streams within their communities.”

Meretz Chairman Zehava Gal-On said, „Recruiting tens of thousands of haredim despite their rabbis will not make the burden more equal.”

The Israeli Forum for Citizen Equal Rights and Obligations on Monday called on the government „to disassemble the Peri committee and go back to obligating the whole public to the Defense Service Law.”

The forum said that the Peri committee was on course to „doing years of damage,” adding that the „public did not vote for measures that would only be implemented in four years’ time, a kind of recruitment process would begin that creates a number of sectors, and the only thing that would separate them is the kippah on their heads.”

Rights group Hiddush for Religious Freedom and Equality called the Peri committee recommendations „unfair, ineffectual and unconstitutional,” and welcomed the political fracas because it was delaying the legislating process.

Hiddush said the Peri committee had simply „watered down” the Tal Law, which the High Court of Justice ruled was unconstitutional, and called for the „immediate application of mandatory enlistment quotas, determined according to the IDF’s needs and capacity, and which will be enforced through efficient, economic sanctions on draft dodgers.”