The draft law is one of the biggest obstacles for governments in the last decade, and yet it was brought to a vote today (Monday) in the first reading in the Knesset where it fell. The proposal won the support of 54 MKs and 54 voted against. This happened despite three votes from members of the RAAM faction voting in favor, the first time an Arab-Islamic party has voted in favor of enlisting in units of the Israel Defense Forces. The law fell due to the surprising opposition of MK Jida Ranavi Zoabi of Meretz, in protest of the passage of the Citizenship Law. Immediately after the vote, the ultra-Orthodox MKs came to her place to thank her.
Shortly after the law was passed, Prime Minister Bennett, Foreign Minister Lapid and Defense Minister Gantz issued a joint statement announcing that “this coming Wednesday the coalition will re-introduce the draft bill with a request for exemption from the discount obligation. The proposal will go to a plenary vote in the coming weeks.”
How were RAAM persuaded to vote in favor? The coalition claims that “until today we were in agreement with the opposition and therefore postponed the vote on the law,” but according to the chairman of the RAAM faction last November, “Arab MKs have never participated in votes on Security laws “but on the other hand without the recruitment law – everyone is obliged to recruit.
Defense Minister Bnei Gantz presented the draft law to the Knesset plenum: “Recognizing the value of Torah study and understanding that not all yeshiva students will serve tomorrow morning, and perhaps not at all, “In order to achieve the recruitment goals, the IDF is working to expand service routes tailored to the ultra-Orthodox public, which will ensure that those who enter the ultra-Orthodox will preserve their identity.”
Ganz is not giving up on his service outline reform. He said, “The bill does not stand on its own. We are in the process of establishing a government team that will promote a new and comprehensive service outline for the State of Israel. Given that an absolute majority must serve, but not everyone must or can serve in the IDF. “As part of the outline, the IDF will be given priority in the search process, and those who serve better and in more combat service will be rewarded more. This is one of the most complex, important and significant reforms for Israel’s security and the strength of Israeli society.”
Chairman of Torah Judaism MK Moshe Gafni: “The people of Israel have no right to exist without Torah scholars, even when we were scattered throughout the exiles, the Jew in China, Poland and Morocco spoke the same language of Torah scholars” Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one. ” The Torah did not exist as a people and we would not return to the Land of Israel, we will fight for the Torah students to continue to study without quotas and without conditions, and we will not support any law that limits this sacred value. “
MK Meir Porush from Torah Judaism discusses the draft law: “A Jewish state that is considering such a law – from our point of view it is better not to get up. They will not be able to disconnect the students from the school bench. “
It must be said that this is a deep and complex issue and the completion of the law is still far away. In the 20th Knesset, the law was passed on first reading in July 2018, but has since stalled. So it is enough to take a look at the history of the draft law, about the hardships he went through in the Knesset committees and the plenum of the Mishkan and how many governments fell because of it. The recruitment law is one of the biggest obstacles for governments in the last decade.