Featured Post
Free The Hostages! Bring Them Home!
(this is a featured post and will stay at the top for the foreseeable future.. scroll down for new posts) -------------------------------...
Jul 8, 2013
Shivyon bNetel lack of consistency
A couple of inconsistencies that bother me regarding yesterday's vote in favor of the drafting of the Haredi community, specifically the yeshiva bochurim and avreichim:
1. Minister of Housing abstained form the "shivyon b'netel" vote. Ariel has been largely against the "shivyon b'netel" trend all along. One reason is because it has not really been equal, in the sense that the law and the movement all along has only been to draft haredim, but not to bring about equality in draft regarding Arabs. As well, Ariel has been opposed to it because of the inclusion of personal sanctions on those refusing to be drafted, turning them into criminals. I find it ironic that Minister Ariel abstained from the vote due to his opposition to it, but earlier in the day he praised what was about to happen.
Ariel said earlier in the day "today we are taking a significant step toward the integration of the Haredi public. We in the Bayit Yehudi have succeeded in taking a bad law that was disconnected from reality and have been able to arrive at an agreed upon, and worthy, outline for the integration of the Haredi community in a staggered and patient way... I believe the criminal sanctions issue will find a resolution in the Knesset committee." Ariel also went on to detail a number of other accomplishments Bayit Yehudi influenced in the formation of the shivyon bnetel bill.
So, on the one hand Ariel was against the bill to the point that he had to abstain, while on the other hand he is proud of its accomplishments. I am scratching my head...
2. Minister of Justice Tzippi Livni is not satisfied with the new haredi draft law. She says, and she is not alone in this opinion, that the shivyon bnetel law is not really equal. The difference between the various forms of dissatisfaction with the new law is in how Livni sees the inequality relative to how some others, like Avigdor Lieberman for example, see the inequality, and how they voted for it. Some, like Livni, voted for it despite not being satisfied with it, while others, like some of Lieberman's people, chose to abstain or oppose due to the way they perceive the inequality.
Minister Livni voted in favor, but really believes the law is not solving the shivyon bnetel problem. Livni sees a gross inequality in the fact that Yeshivat Hesder students only serve 16 (now 17) months of IDF service. She says that with the Haredim now being drafted for 24 months, we must extend the service of the Hesder students to achieve true equality.
I note that she is so concerned with true equality among Israeli citizens, yet she fails to make any mention of some of Israel's citizens who do no service at all. Only the ones who do some service are her target to do more.
From the start it was clear the hesder yeshivot would eventually have this problem. Once you go down the path of equality, it is difficult to justify any inequality, no matter how much else good they do. The haredim say they do a lot of chessed, and that should be considered similar to National Service, but it is not and is considered inequal. The hesder students say they serve in top units, elite units, combat units, in disproportionate numbers, and they combine it with Torah learning. But is we as a State want equal, that too is not equal. The question is why so few who are on the warpath for equality even bother to mention, let alone to look for a resolution for, the Arab inequality.
1. Minister of Housing abstained form the "shivyon b'netel" vote. Ariel has been largely against the "shivyon b'netel" trend all along. One reason is because it has not really been equal, in the sense that the law and the movement all along has only been to draft haredim, but not to bring about equality in draft regarding Arabs. As well, Ariel has been opposed to it because of the inclusion of personal sanctions on those refusing to be drafted, turning them into criminals. I find it ironic that Minister Ariel abstained from the vote due to his opposition to it, but earlier in the day he praised what was about to happen.
Ariel said earlier in the day "today we are taking a significant step toward the integration of the Haredi public. We in the Bayit Yehudi have succeeded in taking a bad law that was disconnected from reality and have been able to arrive at an agreed upon, and worthy, outline for the integration of the Haredi community in a staggered and patient way... I believe the criminal sanctions issue will find a resolution in the Knesset committee." Ariel also went on to detail a number of other accomplishments Bayit Yehudi influenced in the formation of the shivyon bnetel bill.
So, on the one hand Ariel was against the bill to the point that he had to abstain, while on the other hand he is proud of its accomplishments. I am scratching my head...
2. Minister of Justice Tzippi Livni is not satisfied with the new haredi draft law. She says, and she is not alone in this opinion, that the shivyon bnetel law is not really equal. The difference between the various forms of dissatisfaction with the new law is in how Livni sees the inequality relative to how some others, like Avigdor Lieberman for example, see the inequality, and how they voted for it. Some, like Livni, voted for it despite not being satisfied with it, while others, like some of Lieberman's people, chose to abstain or oppose due to the way they perceive the inequality.
Minister Livni voted in favor, but really believes the law is not solving the shivyon bnetel problem. Livni sees a gross inequality in the fact that Yeshivat Hesder students only serve 16 (now 17) months of IDF service. She says that with the Haredim now being drafted for 24 months, we must extend the service of the Hesder students to achieve true equality.
I note that she is so concerned with true equality among Israeli citizens, yet she fails to make any mention of some of Israel's citizens who do no service at all. Only the ones who do some service are her target to do more.
From the start it was clear the hesder yeshivot would eventually have this problem. Once you go down the path of equality, it is difficult to justify any inequality, no matter how much else good they do. The haredim say they do a lot of chessed, and that should be considered similar to National Service, but it is not and is considered inequal. The hesder students say they serve in top units, elite units, combat units, in disproportionate numbers, and they combine it with Torah learning. But is we as a State want equal, that too is not equal. The question is why so few who are on the warpath for equality even bother to mention, let alone to look for a resolution for, the Arab inequality.
------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel
------------------------------------------------------
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Related Posts
I still think that looking to the Arab problem as one of inequality is a red herring. Arabs are not equal citizens in fact, even if they may be under the Law.
ReplyDeleteBefore worrying if Arabs serve, Israel would do better to give them a reason to want to.
I agree with Avi that the Arab issue is a red herring. Whether one comes at this question from the left (why should they want to serve) or the right (can we trust them to serve), the relationship of the Arabs to the state is clearly not the same as the relationship of the haredim to the state. Evidence of this, if any is needed, is the fact that no Arab party has ever been asked, or offered the chance, to serve in an Israeli government. Compare that to the anguished cries of the haredi parties when they were denied the chance to belong to the current coalition, having served as an integral part of many past coalitions.
ReplyDeleteMoreover, it should be pointed out that this law does not provide for real equality even vis-a-vis the haredim. The proposed term of service is significantly shorter, there is a non-military option that I don't think is available to non-haredim, and there are 1,800 annual exemptions that have no equivelent in the non-haredi sector. Moreover, with all this talk of "criminal sanctions," it is not at all clear that the 3-year jail term applied to non-haredim who evade service without a valid exemption will also be applied to haredim.
Maybe the problem is this term "shivyon b'netel." That's a nice, catchy phrase, but it does not really describe what this law is trying to do. Maybe they should call it "the law for advancing the integration of haredim into the workforce and getting them to take on at least some of the military obligations that non-haredi Jewish citiziens have." That doesn't fit very well into a headline, but it better describes what this law is actually trying to do. Absolute equality of service doesn't exist, and probably can't exist. I think it's appropriate that integration of haredim into the army is being carried out gradually, and in a way that leaves their terms of service less onerous that those of the non-haredi Jewish public, but its really disingenuous to imply that this law is hypocritically applying equality of service only to the haredim.