Charedism on Trial
The High Court hears the case for avoiding the draft and getting money
A significant High Court hearing took place yesterday in Israel. Nine justices heard the case for the charedi avoidance of army service for those registered as studying in yeshiva and the funding that such institutions and people receive, in light of the expiry of any legal basis for such an exemption.
Incredibly, the attorney arguing the charedi case was a private counsel hired by the government. And the government is advocating for this view despite the fact that the majority of the government - the Likud and the religious Zionist parties - most certainly do not believe that charedim should be exempt from army service and be paid for it!
The reason for this bizarre situation is the same as the reason for many other bizarre situations that Israel has found itself in over the last few years, and it’s one person: Bibi Netanyahu. Although the majority of Israel feels pretty much the same way about most major issues, Bibi’s narcissism and treachery has made him so despised and distrusted that the only government he can form is with those whose sole requirement is money.
Thus, Bibi is dependent upon the charedim. And thus his government went against the attorney-general and hired a private lawyer to protect the charedim. Which the charedim also wanted because, contrary to their claims, they never actually rely on Torah for their protection.
Predictably, it was a fiasco. The lawyer didn’t attempt to argue that there is any real basis for the exemption; instead, he tried to argue that the IDF does not have the ability to provide a religiously-suitable environment for 63,000 charedim. The judges responded that this is not a legal mass exemption, and certainly does not prevent at least a few thousand from drafting now into existing charedi-suitable frameworks, especially in light of the manpower shortage that the army faces.
But when it came to the issue of funding, things became even more absurd. The lawyer claimed that cutting funding is a matter of dinei nefashot - “life and death” - for tens of thousands of people in the charedi kollel community. This was just as appalling as when charedi rabbinic leaders talk about yeshiva students being moser nefesh for Torah. One of the justices angrily pointed out that actual matters of life and death are what’s happening for all the other people in the country.
Then the lawyer claimed that withholding funding from charedim in kollel is negating basic human rights, arguing that even prisoners receive food. It was reminiscient of the Columbia protest leader demanding basic humanitarian aid, instead of simply stopping their protest and going out and getting food. The charedim choose to be underemployed and require financial assistance, and yet they feel entitled to support!
The charedi position is that they do not have any need to share in the crucial national responsibilities of defense and maintaining a strong economy, while everyone else is obligated to financially support them. This makes a mockery of the Torah that they claim to represent. It’s a pity that it took a war for them to finally be taken to task for it.
I am not commenting on the substance, but I do desire to correct the grammar. You write: "Although the majority of Israel feels pretty much the same way about most major issues, Bibi’s narcissism and treachery has made him so despised..." It should be: "HAVE made him so despised."
Next, you put a hyphen in "religiously-suitable." Generally "ly" words are not followed by a hyphen, the "ly" on its own serving as the connective.
I mentioned in a previous thread, that Gen Yitzchak Brik said in a video that the IDF can't spread itself so thin, as to protect every community in the West Bank, as well as the Northern border, and the Gaza border. He recommends that every community train an emergency squad of people trained to use weapons so as to be able to defend their community.
There's a similar form of community service, משמר אזרחי, which is sort of like a National Guard.
Perhaps ba'alei batim in Charedi communities (like mine) could help out in that way. They can't argue that they're exempt, because it'll destroy the Torah world, or that they're afraid that they'll go off the derech by being enlisted in the army for three years.