IDF, Miluim and the Charedim
Let's face it. We need more soldiers. That is a fact. We had a military leadership that sold the Knesset a bill that “we don't need a big army”. All we need is a “smaller and smarter army”. So what did the army do? It lowered the number of reserves. This has wreaked havoc on our current forces. Many miluimnikim (reservists) are doing hundreds of days! The question is why? There are 50,000 former reservists that are not on the lists for reserve duty because they were removed! The army for some reason is pushing our reservists to do more when there are 50,000 PLUS experienced soldiers available to come back into the army. I am still scratching my head and asking why the army didn't make a new plan to call these 50,000 plus soldiers back.
This lack of calling these combat ready and trained is puzzling. It also leads to my next issue. On October 8th almost 5000 Chareidim enlisted to the army. Sadly the army only took 350 of them for duty. The real question is if the army claims that they need more soldiers, then why didn't they take all 5000 into the army? I am sure the army will say that they need combat soldiers, and many of the chareidim are not strong candidates for combat positions. The answer begs the next question: was there nothing for the other 4,650 Charedim to do in the army? Could these 4,650 (approx.) not be truck drivers? Could they not be trained for guard duty (shemira)? What about working in the kitchens? What about being involved in areas of the rabbanut like Kashrut in the army (in many bases there is a lack of proper kashrut supervision and it is legally required that the army maintains a kosher base)? What about training them for technical jobs working on all the equipment?
My point is that we are still in the Conceptzia zone. The Conceptzia sold us that our enemies are weak and all they want is money. So the Shin Bet (the FBI equivalent in Israel) and Aman (military intelligence) sold us that all we need to do is keep giving Hamas money and all our problems will go away.
I mention this because everyone in the media who is anti-Bibi is clamoring: Why aren't the Charedim fighting? How come they are getting away with not serving? You are right, they should serve. There are too many that are playing games. But here is the real question: Why are all the anti-Bibi/Likud attacking the Chareidi enlistment policy and not creating a bill for all the draft dodgers in the secular/leftist camp? Israeli Arabs are exempt. Why? Let them do a Sherut Leumi (national service) if they won't serve in the IDF. Why is this any less important? The Israeli Arabs constitute 21% of Israel's citizens. If you are making a strong claim against the Charedim, then why is no one saying the same for Israeli Arabs? Why do they get all the benefits of being an Israeli citizen and don't serve, and they get to go to college and receive discounts? What about all the secular Jews who also draft dodge? Why are they getting all the benefits and college discounts as well? My point is clear: We live in a democracy, and we cannot rule against one group over others. This is clearly discriminatory and is probably illegal. Unfortunately, we have a judicial system that, instead of focusing on the law, uses the law to promote its own agenda.
In the area of the army the agenda is clear. The left is connected to the courts and the Attorney General, and the direct attacks against the chareidi parties are a clear attempt to break the relationship between the Charedi parties and the Likud. How do I know this? For years, leftist parties have said to the Charedim: Join us and we will give you a blank page, and we will sign on whatever you want. What happened to all the Charedim must serve slogan? It's a scam. Even Yair Golan, chair of the (un) Democratic party, said that they don't want the Charedim in the army and that the Charedim are bad soldiers, are stupid and are a lower class than the other Israelis. Comedian Lior Schlein (who now thinks he is a political analyst) said that the “Chareidim must enlist” slogan is all baloney, and it is being used as a weapon against Bibi and Likud. In my humble opinion, Bibi fell into this trap. He needed to state the obvious: Full-time serious Yeshiva students (meaning studying a minimum of 8-9 hours a day) would be exempt from service during Yeshiva hours. On their breaks, they would need to go in together (as a Chareidi unit) to train (as I mentioned before, but I would add that they can also be trained and be part of a civil guard in the Chareidi neighborhoods and their surrounding areas). All non-full-time Chareidi students aged 18 and above not in an approved Yeshiva or preparatory program must enlist in a Chareidi unit.
I find it baffling and troubling that I hear from Charedi families that even if their sons are not Yeshiva students, they still don't want them to join the army out of fear that they will become secular. As an Orthodox rabbi, I understand that fear. We raise our children to follow the Torah, do mitzvot, and follow Hashem. I am not saying we shouldn't create environments for Charedi Jews to maintain their lifestyle, but what is the responsibility of the Charedi parents and the Charedi educational system to be responsible for maintaining their religiosity? Why is it all on the army?
Isn't protecting the Jewish people with our lives a mitzvah? Is our situation in Israel not a milchemet mitzvah?
We have to give a big shout-out to our miluimnikim and their wives for all that they do, and we need to shift the benefits towards those who physically defend our country. We need to have better financial conditions for soldiers to buy a home (a GI Bill like after WWII) and other university subsidies and the like.
We need to sit down with the Chareidi leadership and explain that this cannot continue this way. The statistics show that by 2030, Charedim will be 16% of the entire population, by 2050 24.4%, and by 2060 27-29%. Clearly this population cannot just continue doing what it does. It must work towards doing more to ensure that all of their families have a proper livelihood and should not rely solely on political handouts.
Creating a climate of hatred and disrespect is unhelpful and will lead to a much worse situation. We need to work to create a better environment where Chareidim can enlist, and where society at large will respect Charedi culture, allowing them to maintain their religious level while in the army. I want to give one example: The Dati Leumi rabbinic leadership does not want young women soldiers in a mixed tank unit with their religious soldiers. This is clearly reasonable. Let the women have a separate unit of women-only tanks. Why are the courts and the army insisting on doing this? If the Dati Leumi rabbis are making this request, why are the army and the courts disregarding them? If the courts won't respect the religious level of our highly esteemed Dati Leumi combat soldiers, then why would a Chareidi trust that their own religiosity be protected?
The only way to make this work is for our leaders to stop using the courts as a weapon. Also the army must stop its old ways of trying to make the soldiers like a “melting pot” to create, as Ben Gurion used to say, a new Israeli. No! Let all Jews maintain their heritage as they see fit. We must protect all religious Jews who enter the army to worship and maintain their religious standards. This respect will actually make our army a more effective and unified force for good.
If you have any questions, feel free to message me through my website, BrianThau.com.
Next topic: Judicial Reform