Transparently disgraceful

There are times when a situation is so clearly disgraceful that silence is no longer an honest option.

We are currently experiencing such times, both internally in Israel and worldwide in Diaspora communities.

It certainly is not appropriate to remain silent in the face of ongoing challenges confronting Jews collectively and Israel as the reborn nation state of the Jewish People.

Israel faces a myriad of major problems.

Ever since its rebirth in 1948, the country has had to confront daily crises that would have overwhelmed most nations. It is therefore not surprising that today’s challenges are a repeat and rerun of past ones. Those who opposed the Jewish People’s restored sovereignty in their indigenous ancestral homeland in the 1920s and in 1947/48 are still working to undermine it.

The threat of a nuclear-enabled Iran remains a priority to deal with and confront.

The immediate return of each and every kidnapped hostage from the malign clutches of Hamas must be paramount. Making sure that Hamas and every other terror group is defanged is an ongoing objective.

The scandalous situation of Charedi exemptions from IDF and national service is a subject that hitherto was glossed over but has now become too toxic to ignore.

One needs to be mindful that there is a slow but increasingly noticeable trend of young Charedi men who are indeed participating one way or another in service to the country. They are volunteering as first responders with Magen David Adom, Hatzalah and Zaka, all vital and important parts of Israel’s emergency services. Charedi men are also members of the IDF Chevra Kadisha unit and increasingly visible in the special combat units established for them in the IDF.

Many of these young men face being ostracised by their peers, families and communities. Despite this disgraceful phenomenon, they remain determined to contribute to the safety and welfare of the country.

I mention these examples because they highlight the appalling and transparent inconsistency of the majority who shun national service. Even worse are the actions and rhetoric of the Charedi Rabbinic and political leaderships. Their frenetic refusal to encourage and facilitate a whole generation of young men to stand shoulder to shoulder with those defending the country is inexcusable and becoming increasingly untenable.

My first exposure to the disconnection between Charedi communities and the State occurred not long after we had made aliyah thirty-four years ago. Spending Shabbat with a national religious Zionist family who lived in an increasingly ultra-Orthodox Jerusalem suburb proved to be an enjoyable and educational experience. Our host attended a Charedi Synagogue one block from his apartment. He explained that it was more convenient than climbing steep steps to a local mainstream-affiliated one.

As New Zealand has never been home to Jews of Hassidic or non-Hassidic Charedim, I looked forward to this encounter. I was certainly the “odd Jew out” and the only one with a white kippah and not wearing a black suit. Nevertheless, everyone was friendly and the service familiar, albeit with different tunes. What struck me forcefully, however, was the omission of any prayer for the welfare of the country and for the safety of those defending it. When I queried my host about this, he confirmed that this was the norm in all Charedi Synagogues in Israel.

How, I mused, could these groups accept millions of shekels from the Government and at the same time spurn praying for the country’s safety? How on earth can they ignore the sacrifices being made by those defending the country against suicidal and jihadist terrorists dedicated to murdering Israelis?

At present, eighty thousand men between the ages of 18 and 24 are exempt from IDF duties because ostensibly they are studying full time in Yeshivot. The Coalition is trying to pass legislation that will enshrine this mass evasion in law and perpetuate a disgusting state of affairs. To make matters even worse is the fact that taxpayers are funding subsidies and grants to these supposed students and Yeshivot and schools. Not all alleged students attend studies full time, and those who don’t are still exempt from call-up.

The role of the Charedi political parties and their rabbinic patrons is a transparent disgrace. Seeking to justify this mass refusal to serve, they piously pontificate that these yeshiva students are, in fact, safeguarding and defending the country by studying our sacred texts. This claim is unsustainable. If it were true, then how do they explain that Yeshiva students and their rabbis were murdered alongside millions of Jews during the Shoah? Yeshiva rabbis and their students were likewise massacred indiscriminately by Arabs during the 1929 Hebron and Jerusalem pogroms.

Even more despicably, after several Charedi soldiers were killed in Gaza operations, they claimed that their deaths were a result of their abandoning Torah studies. This viscous vitriol is a sign of how disconnected they are becoming from mainstream society.

The only guarantee of preventing another such tragedy is for all Jews, every single able-bodied one, to be trained and prepared to physically defend their communities.

It is asserted that serving in the IDF will entice these young men from their insulated way of life and lead them morally astray. The IDF has established specialised units to address this issue. The frantic efforts to prevent young Charedi men from serving have more to do with maintaining control over them and ensuring that the flow of money continues uninterrupted.

Some have suggested that if a universal draft law is enforced, there could be an exodus of Charedi families from the country. Which countries would they go to where non-working men can still receive handouts from the Government? Is it back to the past with resurrected shtetls in Ukraine, Poland and Russia?

How much longer can a generation receive only a minimum education devoid of exposure to English, science, mathematics and history?

How long can a society be sustained that relies solely on donations and welfare payments?

Manpower shortages and a rapidly rising sense of outrage from the silent majority of Jewish Israelis are bringing this situation to the boil. Either the coalition surrenders to blatant blackmail, or it finally enacts equal service for all with financial penalties for those who have no valid excuse.

The next elections may very likely result in the Charedi parties being excluded from a governing coalition.

The time is long overdue for the Prime Minister to remind all concerned of the admonition of our greatest prophet and leader, Moshe (Moses).

Stressing a collective responsibility for all tribes in the face of danger, he stated: “shall your brethren go to war while you sit here?”

What was true then at the dawn of our claiming sovereignty is even truer today when our sovereignty is challenged and threatened.

Removing Yuli Edelstein this week, the Likud chairman of the Knesset committee considering universal service because he refuses to kowtow to Charedi threats, is the height of political cynicism. Replacing him with someone who is deemed more compliant is a transparent disgrace.

Failure to enact legislation that obligates all sectors of Israeli society to participate in the collective defence of the nation will be the straw that finally breaks the proverbial camel’s back.

If this scandalous situation is not rectified, the electoral fallout that follows is bound to be swift and unmistakable.

Michael Kuttner is a Jewish New Zealander who for many years was actively involved with various communal organisations connected to Judaism and Israel. He now lives in Israel and is J-Wire’s correspondent in the region.

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