Science and Technology Minister Daniel Hershkowitz, chairman of the
Jewish Home party, visited the ‘suckers tent’ in Tel Aviv on
Thursday. During his visit, Hershkowitz said that his party is
committed to implementing equal service for all sectors of Israeli
society.
The ‘suckers tent’ is made up of individuals who were opposed to
extending the Tal Law, which regulated the exemption of hareidi
soldiers from enlisting in the IDF, and attempted a gradual increase
of hareidi army service.
The Tal Law was annulled by the Supreme Court after the judges, under
former Court President Dorit Beinisch, struck it down as
unconstitutional. A committee, headed by MK Yohanan Plesner (Kadima),
has been charged with coming up with a new formula for conscripting
hareidim into the military.
The Plesner Committee clarified Thursday that while it favors the
principle of "service for all," it will not recommend slapping any
sanctions on Arabs who refuse to enlist, but will recommend punishing
hareidim who evade service. In response, Hershkowitz’s party said it
will leave the committee. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s
Yisrael Beytenu party said it would do the same and advance its own
bill stipulating equal service for all citizens.
Hershkowitz emphasized in a conversation with Arutz Sheva that
studying Torah is important for hareidim, but that serving the
country is equally important.
“My message here is very clear: There is no contradiction whatsoever
between studying Torah, which is the most important value in Jewish
life, and serving the army and building the country,” he said. “In
fact, the Torah commands that once you enter the land, you have to
start working. You have to start planting, you have to fight.”
He reiterated that “fighting for the very existence of the Jewish
people in the land of Israel – is a mitzvah. It’s not an optional
thing. So there is no contradiction whatsoever and that’s why my
great-grandfather, as a rabbi, asked to be drafted to the army at the
age of 80 when the State of Israel was established. That’s why my
father and my mother fought during the War of Independence. That’s
why I served in the army, as did all my sons. My youngest one was
just drafted yesterday.”
Hershkowitz told the occupants of the ‘suckers tent’ that the Jewish
Home party “will not let the Plesner Committee do a sloppy job on the
issue of hareidi enlistment. The Jewish Home will not take part in
sweeping the issue under the table. I demand equal burden for
everyone. “
