Secret Recordings Reveal Charedi Draft Scam

The Gedolim are caught on microphone with stark admissions

In an extraordinary journalistic accomplishment, Channel 12 published secretly-recorded audio of the charedi Gedolim speaking about their acquiescence to Likud’s Draft [Exemption] Law. But first, some background.

Last year, the previous law exempting charedim from army service expired, leaving charedim ineligible to receive certain forms of funding and vulnerable to being arrested for draft evasion. The Likud, along with the so-called Religious Zionism party and the so-called Jewish Strength party, has been desperately trying to push through a new law to maintain charedi political support. This law purports to enlist a small but growing target number of charedim each year, while legislating an exemption for all the rest, freeing up funding for them.

Bibi and his loyalists have claimed that this law is a historic accomplishment which will lead to tens of thousands of charedim enlisting - eventually 50% of those eligible. Some charedi MKs have publicly claimed that they are only seeking to exempt non-learning charedim.

But critics of the law - which is absolutely everybody outside of the government, along with a few brave people of integrity within the government such as Yuli Edelstein - have argued that it’s a farce. The targets are far too low, and there is no serious enforcement mechanism anyway.

Who is correct? Here’s where the secret recordings of R. Moshe Hillel Hirsch and others reveal the stark truth.

In these recordings, the charedi rabbinic leadership say plainly that they nobody at all will enlist, even if they are not learning in yeshivah. And they state that the reason that they are going along with Likud’s proposed law is that this is exactly what the law accomplishes. Billions of shekels will be released for charedi yeshivos, yet the enlistment quotas will not be met. And the High Court will eventually get around to overturning the law, but meanwhile the charedim will have bought a few years of massive funding and no concerns of enlistment (after which they may be enough of a political force to change things further in their favor). They admit that the entire proposed law is a scam.

None of this comes as any surprise to anyone. However, the fact that the charedi leadership were recorded saying it makes it vastly more difficult for Bibi and government supporters to continue lying and claiming that the law will bring about significant charedi enlistment.

Will this be the death knell of the Draft Exemption Law, as some are convinced? I’m not so confident. If stabbing the reservists in the back and pushing Israel’s economy further on the course for self-destruction was not enough of a reason not to proceed with a Draft Exemption Law, I’m not at all sure that the whole thing being very clearly exposed as a scam will dissuade the government from pushing it through. But hopefully it helps.