Plan to exempt Orthodox Israelis from military service prompts protests

March 26 (UPI) -- An Israeli military conscription plan that would exempt Orthodox Jews and that was promoted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lead to protests on Tuesday, with one lawmaker threatening to leave the coalition war cabinet if the plan advanced.

Subsequently, a Tuesday cabinet meeting to consider the plan was postponed and no new date for the plan's consideration has been named.

The controversial proposal, which comes as Israel is intensely engaged in its war against Hamas militants in Gaza, prompted cabinet minister Benny Gantz to repeat his threat to leave the coalition government if a mutual agreement was not reached on the idea to draft Orthodox -- or Haredi -- citizens.

Scores of protesters gathered outside Netanyahu's Jerusalem office on Tuesday to show their anger over the exemptions enjoyed by much of Israel's Haredi population. The Haredi -- a conservative segment of the Israel's population -- have long enjoyed exemptions from mandatory military service for reasons of belief and time needed for religious studies. But the issue has long sparked debates between those calling for civic fairness in military service and those advocating for religious freedom.

Yitzhak Yosef, the Sephardic chief rabbi of Israel, said in early March that citizens will leave Israel if they are forced to be drafted -- drawing the ire of lawmakers.

"Will they force us to join the army?" Yosef said. "We will go abroad," he said about the Haredi, who represent nearly 12% of Israel's more than 9 million citizens.

The Israeli Supreme Court in 2017 struck down the law that granted blanket exemptions for Haredi yeshiva students -- who also receive government subsidies -- from military service and instructed the government to pass new legislation that would lead to greater ultra-Orthodox enlistment.

In June 2023, the government passed a resolution to temporarily avoid drafting ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students while the Knesset formulated and passed new legislation on the contentious issue.

Now, such temporary band-aids on the issue are due to run out by March 24 -- amid the heightened discussions around security amid Israel's war in Gaza.

While some Haredi have enlisted to serve in Israeli's military, a full-time seminary student dismissed them as not being "real Haredim," as they are called in Hebrew language.

"The army is the final stage of Israeli education to make people into secular Israelis and to disconnect them from their Jewish heritage," commented Ephraim Luff, 65, who added that eight of his own children had "strayed from the path" in order to serve in the military.

Yaya Fink -- a Labor party activist and protest organizer who recently finished 142 days of reserve duty who said he will do 200 days in 12 months -- accused the Herdi of "evasion" with a claim that "traditional Judaism" means service as well as studying the Torah.

"The security needs of Israel today are large and expanding and there is no other option than to change the historical discrimination that only part of Israeli society is enlisted while the others learn," Fink told The Times of Israel during Tuesday's protest in Jerusalem where shouts of "elections now" and "equality for everyone" were heard.

"So as a Zionist, as an officer in the reserves and as a religious person, I believe that we need to promote a new draft bill [promoting] equality."