Israel's 'Existential Crisis' - When Draft Dodging Hits Home
While the BBC highlights the internal Israeli debate over military service for Haredi men – a long-standing political football for Netanyahu dating back to 2013 and before – it conveniently sidesteps the larger crisis: the ongoing slaughter in Gaza, fueled by the very military the Ultra-Orthodox avoid. This isn't a new fight; Netanyahu previously proposed similar legislation in 2014, only to
backtrack. The current bill passed its first reading on June 10, reigniting tensions. So, a government faces collapse because some citizens don't want to fight in a war that most media outlets, including the BBC, have spent months sanitizing. The actual crisis isn't about Knesset power dynamics; it's about the dissonance between a nation demanding military aid and diplomatic cover from the US (to
the tune of $3.8 billion annually, plus an additional $14 billion just approved by Congress, Reps like Ritchie Torres, who received $109,219 from AIPAC in 2022-2024, voting consistently in favor, per OpenSecrets.org), while a significant portion of its own population opts out of combat. One might ask, how many 'threats' to Netanyahu’s government will pass before the international community
recognizes the true threat to humanity?