IDF chief of staff to present defense minister with interim plan for drafting ultra-Orthodox into the army.
By JEREMY SHARONHaredi, soldier at IDF recruitment office 370(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem)
Officials in the Defense Ministry have said that IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen Benny Gantz will present to Defense Minister Ehud Barak a temporary plan to start drafting haredim into the army at 5:30 p.m. Thursday.The Tal Law, which provided the legal framework for full time yeshiva students to indefinitely defer military service, expired on August 1 and the Knesset failed to pass new legislation before the summer recess.Following the expiration on August 1 of the “Tal Law” that provided a legal framework for yeshiva students to indefinitely defer military service, ultra- Orthodox men reaching the age of 18 may no longer legally avoid army service.Unless the Ministry of Defense demonstrates that it is working on drafting haredi men it could be considered to be breaking the law.Until now, a haredi male approaching age 18, like all Jewish Israeli males, would receive a tzav rishon (first draft notice) summoning him to present himself at an IDF enlistment office for processing in the first stage of being drafted. A haredi male wishing to enter full-time yeshiva study would declare he wanted to take advantage of the Torato omunato (Torah is his profession) option available through the Tal Law framework, allowing him to defer his military service every year. This option, however, is no longer available.
