JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel's wartime ministers said on Sunday they would resign from the national emergency government if a bill was passed that would continue to exempt ultra-Orthodox Jews from mandatory military service.
Centrist cabinet minister Benny Gantz said: “The people cannot accept this bill, and the Knesset (parliament) should not vote in favor of it.'' My colleagues are not members of the emergency government.”
Gantz, a former military commander who has more support than Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu according to recent opinion polls, joined the national unity government to help manage the war with Hamas after the Oct. 7 attack on Hamas. Ta.
“The conscription law that the government is developing is a serious moral failure and will create deep rifts within us at a time when we must fight together against the enemy,” Gantz said.
war in Israel and Gaza
His party alone will not be able to topple Netanyahu's government. However, Israel's defense minister also voiced opposition to the bill, hinting at opposition within Prime Minister Netanyahu's own right-wing Likud.
The proposed bill has not been made public, but leaks to Israeli media suggest it could make permanent and further expand the long-discussed exemption from military service for ultra-Orthodox Jews. That's what it means. It also downplays the economic costs of decades of policy, which Israel's top economists have repeatedly warned would come at a steep price.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, who has just begun an official visit to the United States, said he would not support the bill, which is expected to be submitted to Cabinet on Tuesday.
After passing the cabinet, it will first go to parliament for approval, a process that could take weeks or months, government officials said.
A Likud spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on the bill.
The exemptions granted to ultra-Orthodox Jews are a source of long-standing friction with the secular population caused by the country's costly mobilization for the Gaza war.
Ultra-Orthodox parties, which make up about 13% of Israel's population, have been partners in successive governments led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In return, they demanded that voters be allowed to study in seminaries instead of serving in uniform.
Economists argue that draft exemptions keep many workers out of the labor force. Opposition politicians say this is an unfair and derogatory policy towards other Israelis.
(Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
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