Netanyahu's 'Crushing Blow' Against Draft-Dodgers: One-Eighth of a Fig Leaf
Al-Monitor reports the predictable 'uproar' over ultra-Orthodox military exemptions, calling it a 'special privilege for draft-dodgers.' This isn't news; it's a biennial Knesset tradition, trotted out whenever Netanyahu's government faces internal dissent or international scrutiny over its military campaigns. The 1948 exemption, a political concession then, remains a glaring inequity now,
especially with US taxpayers subsidizing the IDF's every move. While Israeli youth are conscripted, thousands of Haredim study Torah, fully state-funded, a practice that miraculously becomes a 'crisis' only when it's politically expedient for the ruling coalition to look like they're doing something. One might wonder at the timing, given the ongoing military operations in Gaza and escalating
tensions elsewhere. This isn't a genuine policy shift; it’s a political maneuver, a sacrificial lamb offered to appease a domestic public growing weary of perpetual war and unequal burdens, all while Netanyahu's political survival remains paramount. How many more 'reignited rows' will we witness before anyone seriously questions the structure rather than just the symptoms?