In a shocking threat, Israel’s Attorney General has threatened to draft all military-age Charedim–including full-time yeshiva students.
According to Kan 11 News, AG Gali Baharav-Miara announced the devastating threat, which would be catastrophic for the Charedi community, and greatly diminish the amount of Torah being learned, at a time when z’chusim are badly needed for Klal Yisrael, in addition to dealing a massive blow to PM Netanyahu’s fragile coalition, at a meeting held between the Justice and Defense Ministries.
She announced that if by the end of next month, the government does not extend the draft exemption for yeshiva students, and declare its intent to enact a new draft law, all conscription obligations would immediately apply to all yeshiva students, even those who are ‘Torasam Umanusam’ (full-time yeshiva students). It was also announced that yeshiva funding would be cut off.
To avoid such a result, Likud and its coalition would need to renew the exemption for Charedim in the next few weeks, and need to work on a new draft law that would resolve military service issues for Charedim, which has not been successfully accomplished in decades.
The government is reportedly considering appealing the decision to the High Court, on the grounds that such a move is destructive during an all-out war in Gaza. However the AG said that should such an appeal be filed, she would not be able to represent the government, since she is the recipient of the lawsuit.