Ultra-Orthodox Object to Draft Excluding Arabs
The Justice Ministry is working on an arrangement for drafting ultra-Orthodox Jews, but not Arabs – angering ultra-Orthodox MKs who fear that this would prevent the formation of a Haredi-Arab coalition on draft deferrals.
The Tal Law, which deferred military service for yeshiva students, was recently declared unconstitutional by the High Court of Justice.
Deputy Attorney General Mike Balas has written to the Knesset committee tasked with finding alternatives to the law that “for those who are not ultra-Orthodox, there is no legal obligation to offer an alternative arrangement to the existing one.”
Haaretz has obtained a copy of the document, which outlines the legal aspects of the new arrangement and analyzes the High Court decision revoking the Tal Law. The Haredi members of the committee, headed by MK Yohanan Plesner (Kadima ), were furious to learn that the new arrangement would not apply to Arabs and religious, non-ultra-Orthodox women.
For more, go toHaaretz.com
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