After three years of war, with many Israelis having served hundreds of days in the reserves and the IDF \u2013 especially its regular-service soldiers \u2013 under unbearable strain, public tolerance for blanket military exemptions has all but vanished. A large majority of Israelis want Haredi men to serve, and polls show broad support for their conscription even among supporters of the current government.<\/p>\n
To preserve his alliance with the Haredi parties while reassuring his own supporters, Netanyahu is now offering a formula: \u201cHaredi men who do not study will be drafted.\u201d In practice, the formula is both morally distorted and fundamentally false. Only a universal service obligation will actually bring large numbers of young men from the community into the IDF. Any politician who promises less is effectively giving up on meaningful enlistment. Throughout its term, the Netanyahu-led government has done almost nothing to advance enlistment from the Haredi community. On the contrary, it has invested enormous effort and political capital in promoting a law that would entrench draft evasion, at the unyielding insistence of the Haredi parties. But elections are approaching, and no one reads polls better than Netanyahu. Given Likud\u2019s weakness and the growing demand \u2013 including within his own camp \u2013 that the burden be shared more equally, Netanyahu and other coalition figures are changing course: away from an evasion law and toward a new formula \u2013 \u201cThose who study will be exempt from service; those who don\u2019t will be drafted.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Netanyahu and coalition supporters, many of them traditional or religious, the formula sounds ideal. It lets them have it both ways: protect Torah study while expanding the ranks of those who serve. Problem solved.<\/p>\n
Except it isn\u2019t. The formula is a convenient illusion that falls apart on closer inspection.<\/p>\n
First, there is no moral justification for exempting every Torah student from service. Torah study is an important value in a Jewish state, but it is not an automatic substitute for military service. One can study and serve. Thousands of religious young men do exactly that. Some spend years in yeshiva, perform meaningful military service, return to their studies, and continue to shoulder the burden in the reserves.<\/p>\n
Nor is the formula practical. \u201cThose who don\u2019t study will be drafted\u201d requires the state to decide who is really studying Torah, effectively turning the government into the supervisor of the yeshiva world. How exactly is that supposed to work? Will inspectors roam the yeshivot? Take attendance morning and afternoon? Administer Talmud exams? Check who is working off the books after the afternoon study session? And when a finding like that could mean lost funding and years of military service, what incentive would a yeshiva have to report that one of its students is not really studying?<\/p>\n
The answer is obvious. Before long, we will discover that \u201cyour people are all righteous.\u201d Everyone will be studying Torah. Even the most notorious yeshiva slacker will suddenly become a full-fledged student. There will be lists, certifications, attendance records, and oversight mechanisms. The state will inspect, the yeshivot will report, politicians will tout \u201cenforcement\u201d \u2013 and in the end, almost any young man determined to avoid service will find a way to be classified as a \u201cTorah student.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anyone familiar with the state\u2019s dealings with Haredi education has seen how this works. For years, the state has struggled to enforce even basic core-curriculum requirements in institutions it funds. To believe that an airtight oversight system will suddenly materialize when military service is at stake is na\u00efve at best.<\/p>\n
And that is precisely why the slogan is dangerous. It offers Israelis \u2013 especially right-wing voters who want broader military service but also want to preserve the political \u201cbloc\u201d \u2013 a comforting solution. One can say, \u201cI support Haredi enlistment,\u201d while simultaneously backing an arrangement that, in practice, perpetuates draft evasion.<\/p>\n
There is only one real solution. The next government must adopt a simple principle: everyone serves. Military service can and should be adapted to the needs of the Haredi community. Appropriate frameworks can be created, and a very small quota of exceptional Torah scholars can be allowed to continue their studies. But they must be the exception. Everyone else must serve.<\/p>\n