Photos: Flash90

T

wo weeks to a month — that’s the time frame in which Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s committee will present its recommendations for the new draft law, senior IDF sources say. Lieberman formed the committee in February 2018 in an effort to counter a new version of the legislation drafted by the chareidi parties.

Chareidi politicians are following the process closely, hoping against hope to finally settle this explosive issue, which has long been the bane of the community and a boon for chareidi-bashers. Now, with the committee in the final stages of discussions before getting down to the nitty-gritty of legislation, Lieberman remarked optimistically, “I believe it will be okay.”

An alternative to the law became necessary after Israel’s High Court ruled last year that amendments introduced to a previous draft law (written by Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid in 2014) by the chareidi parties in 2015 were “unconstitutional.” The court, headed by former president Miriam Naor, wrote: “We see a deep failure in the ability to fulfill the goal of significantly reducing the inequality in the distribution of the burden of military service.” The Court imposed a one-year deadline to reach a new formula, which expires around Tzom Gedalyah this year.

Lieberman’s committee has no chareidi representation. It is headed by Attorney Itay Ofir, the defense establishment’s legal advisor, and its members include Maj. Gen. Moti Almoz, the IDF personnel directorate chief; Brig. Gen. Eran Shani, head of the Human Resource Planning and Management Division; Brig. Gen. Sharon Afek, chief military advocate general; a representative of the military rabbinate; and a representative from the Defense Ministry’s social defense department.

Insiders speculate that the committee will recommend setting annual quotas for mandatory conscription, although no one knows enough to provide even a ballpark figure. Given the flexibility of the definition for “chareidi,” it probably won’t be too difficult to meet those quotas.

The timetable is tight. The prime minister has only two months left to pass the draft law in three readings, or the chareidi parties have promised to bolt the coalition, which would prompt new elections. The chassidic Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah convened a meeting Erev Shavuos and sent a clear message to the United Torah Judaism MKs: Do whatever is necessary to ensure the passing of the draft law as quickly as possible.

The political establishment received the subtle ultimatum in a letter from Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman and Finance Committee Chairman Moshe Gafni to Binyamin Netanyahu, stating — in the name of the UTJ party — that legislation must be ratified in the coming days, as the prime minister promised at the end of the winter session.

It’s highly doubtful whether the political establishment will succeed in rallying around a framework that will be equally acceptable to the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah and to Lieberman. Political pundits say that if the new draft law isn’t rejected outright by the Moetzes, it will pass in the first reading by the end of the summer. The next readings will continue through the winter, just as the political establishment will be gearing up for scheduled 2019 elections, with the final authorization — if it gets to that — postponed until the next Knesset.

To better understand the issue, we spoke to a few of the people who participated in the process of determining the committee recommendation.

Frontline Voices

Political Leadership

MK Rabbi Uri Maklev has been involved with the draft law at the behest of  gedolei Yisrael. Based on discussions with committee members, he said that “the recommendations will be such that the chareidi representatives will be able to live with them, albeit with a few slight changes. Of course,” he qualified, “it’s the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah that will render a final decision. It’s possible that ultimately, there will have to be a decision whether the matter warrants going to the polls — in the clear knowledge that in the next Knesset there won’t be a better law than what the committee has prepared — or accepting a painful compromise that will enable the majority of yeshivah students to continue learning, for the price of drafting those who aren’t learning, and which was the psak, at the time, of Rav Shach ztz”l.”

The IDF

Eran Shani is head of the Human Resource Planning and Management Division of the IDF and a member of the Lieberman committee. He told Mishpacha that he spent a lot of time trying to understand the chareidi sector over recent months to better formulate his opinion on the draft.

“I read various books about the chareidim, but mostly, I met people from different streams, including some with radical views. Through the Vaad Hayeshivos chairman Rav Kaufman, I spoke with roshei yeshivah and rabbanim, who asked to remain anonymous, as well as chareidi MKs and askanim. I tried to get a picture of what it is that bothers them about military service. I continue to meet some of those people periodically, all, of course, with the approval of the chief of staff and defense minister. I also spoke with chareidi soldiers, and I learned a great deal from them. In recent months, I’ve invested in this subject more than in all my previous IDF positions.” He notes that other committee members also met with people from various groups within the chareidi community.

We asked Shani if he thought the Supreme Court would accept the changes to the draft law.

“It won’t be easy, but it’s definitely possible. It won’t be easy because everyone is pulling in a different direction. The High Court says we need a law that’s fair and equitable, but on the other hand, the chareidi leadership is unwilling to agree to full equality, with all yeshivah and kollel students serving in the army. Our job is to bridge the different opinions. I believe that in less than a month, we’ll arrive at the formula. If by the summer we don’t have a new law, that means that all chareidim will be drafted to the IDF. My personal opinion? That’s not going to happen.

“The committee won’t decide who will be drafted and who won’t be; it will only set parameters and rules for those who are and who are not eligible for deferrals. Mainly, it will try to deal with the topics of equality and inequality with a long-term view. More than that I can’t say because we have yet to present all of this to the defense minister. I can’t even tell you what will happen in the event of noncompliance with the law, because we haven’t yet ironed out all the details.”

Core Values

A senior rosh yeshivah who met with the committee members told Mishpacha they had a hard time understanding the essential value and significance of Torah study. “We explained to the group the importance of the Torah students and their elevated status. We described to them the average day of a yeshivah bochur or kollel yungerman, with an emphasis on the very long hours they devote to Torah study — which is not comparable to any other discipline. We’re talking about diligent, assiduous study, because of the sweetness of the Torah and the mitzvah to toil in learning, day and night.

“The officers visited study halls, where we explained to them about the world of the yeshivah bochur. The officers spoke with talmidim about the essence of the yeshivah, its character, and the lifestyle they chose.” (Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 712)