If you thought the Haredi community was in a tight situation now with CoronaVirus spreading like wildfire, the Corona Projector (czar) announcing a lockdown on several Haredi cities, and the fighting over Uman and shuls for the High Holidays, it is actually much worse. There is a "perfect storm" converging on the Haredi community right now.
In just 13 days, I think 6 Knesset business days, the extension for the IDF draft law regarding the Haredi community is due to expire with a new law needing to be passed by then. I don't know if they have been working on a plan behind the scenes, quietly, but we definitely have not been hearing about it and there has been no public debate about any facets being proposed. I woudl suspect that from a politicians point of view they likely have the support for a favorable draft for the law, as all member sof the coalition continue to "need" the support of the Haredi parties and seem amenable to giving them pretty much whatever they ask for - but it is still a process and it is coming down to the wire. The plan has to be put together and voted on.
But worse than it coming down to the wire is what the Chief of Staff General Yair Kochavi said this evening. At an awards ceremony in the IDF, Kochavi said the right thing would be for all citizens to serve in the IDF or to at least do the alternative of national service. It is unfathomable that IDF soldiers need to bear the entire burden while so many others are free of any obligation. It is not right that IDF soldiers must endanger their lives while others are cultivating and padding their lives.
Being the head of the army (under the Minister of Defense), that is a pretty strong statement against any law proposal that might let the Haredi yeshiva students completely off the hook with easy ways out. He isn't a politician, but I am not sure a strong statement from someone like Kochavi can be completely ignored. A statement like that now, so close to the deadline for a law proposal, must be troubling for the Haredi politicians...
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