BREAKING NEWS

State requests seven-month extension for haredi draft law

The State Attorney turned to the Forum for Equality in the Burden, which advocates for equal demands from haredi and secular citizens in their military service, and requested to delay the implementation of the recently passed haredi draft law by seven months.
Itay Ben Horin, who petitioned the case on behalf of the forum, responded that the forum opposes the postponement of the bill.
"Implementation has been delayed for the past 20 years," he said. "Let the army draft [people] according to the Defense Service Law, and figure out your political affairs on your own time. Not all IDF recruits should be held captive by some 80-year-old rabbis who haven't yet decided what their opinions are on the matter and who are trying to concoct a political deal over the heads of the soldiers."
The haredi draft law, which passed its final reading on July third, stipulates annual enlistment targets which increase every year for ten years, and financial sanctions in the form of steadily increasing reductions to the budget for haredi yeshivas should enlistment targets not be met.
Ultra-orthodox factions in the Knesset have repeatedly stated that if the law goes into effect they will leave the coalition, threatening the stability of the current government.