The Israeli Parliament approved a military exemption and recruitment plan for ultra-Orthodox Jews, after the Supreme Court ordered an increase in the participation of these young people in mandatory military service.
The vote took place during the early hours of the morning and ended with 63 votes in favor and 57 against.
Defense Minister and Likud deputy Yoav Gallant had already stated that he would oppose the recruitment plan that only provided for a slight increase in ultra-Orthodox recruits, at a time when the Israeli Army is experiencing a “lack of soldiers” due to to the war in Gaza and the tension on the border with Lebanon.
The project, presented in a previous legislature and approved in the first reading (Israeli laws need three readings to be ratified), was subject to a procedural vote that only allows the matter to be sent to a commission, where major changes are expected to occur.
The project proposes reducing the age at which students at Talmudic schools can avoid compulsory military service from 26 to 21 years old, in a first phase, and, after two years, setting the limit at 23 years old. age.
This reduction would allow many ultra-Orthodox Jews to enter the job market and contribute to the economy, while also establishing a series of recruitment requirements for religious schools and sanctions on the grants they receive. if they do not comply with them.
The plan was presented by the then Minister of Defense during the government of Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennet (2021), Benny Gantz, and was intended to be a first step in the development of a recruitment plan that took into account ultra-Orthodox Israelis and the Arabs, who until now were exempt from mandatory military service.
Gantz, leader of the National Unity party, who on Sunday announced the departure of the emergency government formed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the start of the war in Gaza, also opposed the plan.
The two ultra-Orthodox parties voted in favor – Shas and United Torah Judaism -, which initially opposed the measure during the Lapid and Bennet government for endangering the “way of life” of young people.
