The first overture of the coming bill regarding Civil/National Service for yeshiva bochurim was the decision to recognize Chabad shluchim as volunteers in Israel's civil service. This would exempt qualifying shluchim from army service.

The next overture is the decision by the committee to allow yeshiva bochurim to serve in the Shabak and Mossad and their service in these institutions would be considered Civil-Defense Service.

As Kikar explains, the law proposal that is being prepared and will be brought to vote next week, will say that yeshiva students will be able to defer their army service from 18 until the age of 22. At that point they will have to go to the draft board and join the army. The army recruitment officers will decide which students to take and which not. Those that are not taken into the army will get to choose from service in National-Civil Service or Civil-Defense service options.

National-Civil Service will have them serve in government offices, Bituach leumi, the Knesset, courts, and other locations, and as Chabad shluchim under certain parameters.

Civil-Defense Service will have them serve in the police, Shabak, Mossad, MDA, fire stations and other locations.

I don't know if this will lead to Haredi spies and agents around the world protecting us, but if I was in that situation, I would jump at the opportunity.

Today the Committee for Shivyon bNetel headed by MK Ayelet Shaked (Habayit Hayehudi) approved MK Elazar Stern's (Hatnua) proposal to regard Chabad service as shluchim around the world as civil service in place of army service. It would be done according to pre-established criteria and the participating Chabadniks would earn recognition from Israel.

Strangely enough, MK Moshe Gafni (UTJ) opposed the proposal and voted against..

According to Gafni, considering Chabad service as civil service shows hypocrisy and anti-haredi approach in the government. Gafni said that all these years his suggestion to consider volunteers in various chessed organizations of the Haredi community (e.g. Zaka, Hatzolah, and others) to be civil service. It was always rejected because they would say the organizations, as great as the work they do is, need to be a part of the system in order to be recognized. And now it turns out that it does not really need to be a part of the system - they just never wanted the Haredim.

Gafni then says because he is against the law (of shivyon bnetel), so he wants Stern's proposal to fail as well. He then accused them of hypocrisy saying that nobody argues about the contribution of the Chabadnis, and nobody argues about the contribution of the haredi chessed organizations, but that is not the issue - they just dont want haredim...
(source: Kooker)



Dont want haredim? so why put Chabad into the program? True, Chabad is not exactly the same as Degel, but Chabad makes no bones about their focus on kiruv - so the anti-haredi Israeli government that doesnt want haredim should really not want Chabadniks either... but they do. And the difference is that Chabad wanted to be part of the civil service program, while the haredi chessed organizations want to remain independent.

The Committee for Shivyon B'Netel today decided to approve the suggestion that Chabadniks who serve around the world as shlichim will be considered as if they are doing civil service.

There is already a format by which Israelis performing service around the world on behalf of the State of Israel are considered as if they are doing civil service, and now Chabad is being added to the list as an approved form of service. The criteria for this will be determined by the committee, and any yeshiva student meeting that criteria in his shlichus will receive the new status.

MK Elazar Stern said that the Chabad shlichim do a very important job around the world, voluntarily, and until now have not received recognition from the State of Israel for those efforts. The shliach out there doing his work should know that he is now a representative of the State of Israel. Stern also said that another achievement of this is that they will now have forged a connection between Chabad and the State of Israel, and the shlichus of the Rebbe will also now be seen by them as shlichus for Israel.

Stern had reservations because, even though Chabad has a large and strong presence in Israel and is very connected to Israel, the Rebbe sent boys out on shlichus around the world, but did not encourage going to Israel. Stern sees this as a way of strengthening that aspect of the connection between Chabad and Israel.

We all know the stories of how the Chabad shliach, doing great work in far-flung places around the world, is very often the actual representative of Israel, acting as a de facto embassy, helping people in trouble, and taking care of people in need. This solidifies that representation.

Will all the yeshiva bochurim suddenly run to become Chabadniks? not likely. You dont qualify as a civil servant just by being Chabad, but by being a Chabad shliach meeting set criteria... not everyone wants to live in far-away countries or cities, often with very few Jews, let alone other religious Jews... and the work itself is not easy either. These boys do phenomenal work around the world, and they deserve this new status.

I received the following notice and perhaps it might be of interest or relevance to someone here..

MDA in Jerusalem is recruiting civil service people to a variety of positions (e.g. ambulance, office, hotline, etc.).
Somebody interested in this should contact the civi; service coordinator, Moshe Rozmarin, at 054-849-0054.
This Civil Service is designated for yeshiva students above the age of 22 years old, whether married or single.
Two tracks are available:
1. full service - 12 months, 8 hours per day
2. partial service - 24 months, 4 hours per day

No previous training necessary. Over the course of the year, the civil servant will undergo a paramedics course, for free. 

I don't know any more than what is in this notice. If it is relevant to you or to someone you know, best of luck. And, pass it on.