In the absence of a law exempting the ultra-Orthodox (Haredim) from military service, tens of thousands have received draft orders. A few evaders caught by police have been arrested. This has led to a \u201cdeclaration of war\u201d by the Haredi community. Haredi politicians have competed with each other in issuing threats about the bitter fate that would befall Israeli society if the \u201cwar on the Torah world continues.\u201d But they soon discovered that they were scaring no one. Simply put, the Haredi contribution to the State of Israel \u2013 its economy and core institutions \u2013 is so meager that even if they went on strike tomorrow morning, it wouldn\u2019t significantly disrupt life in Israel. Hopefully, the image reflected back at them from this mirror will inspire some moral self-examination.<\/p>\n
Even after nearly three years of a right-wing-Haredi government, a new conscription law is nowhere in sight. Given the ongoing war, the unending burden of reserve duty borne by many Israelis, with so many wounded or dead, even Netanyahu\u2019s government cannot manage to pass yet another draft-evasion law for its allies who categorically refuse to share the heavy security burden.<\/p>\n
And so, the Haredim now find themselves in the worst position they\u2019ve been in since first receiving sweeping draft exemptions and state-funded support for their way of life, even for draft dodgers. Consequently, as mandated by law, the IDF issued draft notices to tens of thousands of Haredim who, unsurprisingly, did not report for duty. As a result, they are barred from leaving the country and subject to arrest warrants. This is the reason for the recent detention of some Haredi men.<\/p>\n
Alongside these measures, the High Court of Justice ruled last year that in the absence of a conscription\/exemption law, service-eligible Haredim would not be entitled to a series of budget allocations, benefits, and discounts that have long been granted to them at the taxpayer\u2019s expense. All of this has placed the Haredim in a double bind: growing financial hardship and fear of arrest due to their criminal status.<\/p>\n
The recent arrests have marked a new low for Haredi politicians and leaders. In their eyes, it poses an unprecedented threat to the core of their political and religious power, \u201cthe Torah world.\u201d Hence, they\u2019ve gone to war. We are witnessing verbal assaults on anyone they view as \u201cfighting the Torah world,\u201d attacks that are unprecedented even by Haredi standards.<\/p>\n
The Lithuanian daily Yated Neeman declared a \u201cwar,\u201d and addressed the arrested deserters with a headline featuring the biblical lament: \u201cZion, will you not ask after the welfare of your captives?\u201d \u2013 as though the detainees had been seized by the Cossacks. Knesset member Meir Porush of United Torah Judaism threatened a \u201cterrifying struggle.\u201d At a gathering of rabbis hosted by Lithuanian leader Rabbi Landau, it was declared that \u201cWorld Haredi Jewry will embark on a struggle like no other.\u201d Some threatened to \u201cshut down the country,\u201d and so on.<\/p>\n
But the Haredim are threatening Israeli society with an unloaded pistol. Compared to other sectors that contribute significantly to the state and share in its economic and security burdens, the Haredim receive far more from the state than most Israelis and contribute almost nothing in return. What will the Haredim do? Stop paying taxes? Their contribution to the tax burden is so negligible that it wouldn\u2019t matter. Refuse to volunteer for the army? The number of Haredim who serve is minuscule. Launch a general strike? Many Haredim \u2013 those who work at all \u2013 are employed within their own community and institutions and would harm themselves more than anyone else.<\/p>\n
True, the Haredim are very active in welfare and charitable services, and their Torah study does have Jewish and symbolic value for a Jewish state. But ultimately, the only tool left for them to disturb the rest of Israeli society is violence and civil disobedience \u2013 and they do occasionally employ it by blocking major roads. Yet even this tactic is likely to backfire catastrophically. No Israeli driver stuck in a massive traffic jam on their way home from work or reserve duty will sympathize with deserters blocking their path.<\/p>\n
This situation should confront the Haredim with a harsh mirror. What stares back is an unflattering image of a community whose share of the Israeli population is growing, yet whose contribution remains marginal. If the Haredi leadership possessed even a sliver of Jewish morality, they would cry out, not because of the arrest of deserters, but because of the degeneration and destitution visible throughout Haredi cities and neighborhoods. Idleness, abject poverty, thousands of young people dropping out of various frameworks and ending up on the street \u2013 a community in crisis and disarray.<\/p>\n
Sadly, the Haredi leadership is incapable of such reflection. Moreover, to preserve their power, they may actually prefer to keep their followers destitute and uneducated. Therefore, it is the duty of Israeli society to integrate the Haredim \u2013 while preserving their identity \u2013 into the army, the economy, the education system, and state institutions. This would be a lifeline not just for the Haredim, but also for Israeli society.<\/p>\n