Jerusalem / Abdel Raouf Arnaout / Anatolia
– The Supreme Court issued a decision urging the state to recruit ultra-Orthodox Jews, which has been a controversial issue for years.
– Analyst Pfeiffer: The decision will keep the religious parties in the government. The rabbis will try to delay implementation by pressuring ministers to gain Netanyahu’s support
– Analyst Eyal: The Haredim are more satisfied with Netanyahu. It is not possible to maintain a large army to protect us in light of increasing sectors evading service
– Journalist Cohen: The Haredi street will decide the fate of the government. One rabbi or a few are enough to lead anger on the ground and cause pressure
Unanimously, the Israeli Supreme Court issued a decision on Tuesday urging the state that religiously extremist Jews, “Haredim,” must be recruited into the army, a controversial issue for years.
This “historic” decision, according to analysts, may not immediately lead to the fall of the government coalition headed by Benjamin Netanyahu, but it may represent the beginning of the fall, in light of many disagreements and divisions.
The survival of Netanyahu’s government depends on the support of the two religious parties, “Shas” and “United Torah Judaism,” which are the two main victims of the court’s decision.
While the religious parties oppose the recruitment of “Haredim,” the secular and nationalist parties support it. This caused Netanyahu a problem that threatened his ruling coalition.
For months, the Israeli army has been suffering from a shortage of soldiers. Because of its ongoing war in the Gaza Strip since last October 7, its intensive operations in the occupied West Bank, and its confrontations with Hezbollah across the Lebanese borders.
Religious Jews constitute about 13 percent of Israel’s population of approximately 9.9 million people. They do not serve in the army, and they say that they devote their lives to studying the Torah to preserve the identity of the people of Israel.
The law requires every Israeli male and female over the age of 18 to serve in the military, and the exclusion of “Haredim” from service has always sparked controversy over the past decades.
The authority of the rabbis
According to Anshel Feffer, an analyst for the Hebrew newspaper “Haaretz”, on Wednesday, “The Supreme Court ruling will not bring down Netanyahu’s coalition, because he and his religious partners want to avoid that.”
“The court’s ruling to conscript religious school students and stop government funding for schools whose students refuse to join the army will, in fact, keep the religious parties in the government coalition for the time being,” Pfeiffer said in an article.
Pointing out the possibility that the judicial decision will not be implemented, he added, “Judges set very clear standards, but they are not the ones who implement them.”
He continued: “The Haredi rabbis agree on one thing, which is that they are united in their hatred of the Supreme Court and are determined to prove that its ruling has no authority over them, and they will make sure that their students will not serve their country.”
He believed that “the way to do this, at least currently, is to try to delay implementation by putting pressure on the relevant ministers and officials within the government, and they enjoy Netanyahu’s support in that.”
Netanyahu is pressing for the Knesset to approve a draft law on Haredi recruitment that satisfies the religious parties, but it does not satisfy many representatives, including those from his Likud party (right).
Earlier this June, the draft law was approved in the first reading, but it still must be approved in a second and third reading to become a final law.
“Netanyahu knows very well that there is no chance of passing a law that meets the standards of the Supreme Court and the expectations of the Israeli people and is accepted by the Haredi parties and their rabbis,” Feffer said.
He added, “But Netanyahu’s promises regarding war and legislation are merely exercises to buy time and prolong political survival. This is exactly what the Haredim want.”
panic
According to Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper analyst Nadav Eyal, in an article on Wednesday, the court’s decision “put Netanyahu into a complete state of panic.”
He added: “This does not mean that the government will fall. What exactly awaits the extremist Jews after the elections, except for the realistic option of forming a unity government without them?”
He added: “In contrast to Netanyahu, the Haredim are more comfortable until one of the rabbis says let the whole building collapse and collapse. We are not far from that,” meaning the possibility of the government’s fall.
Eyal Zad: “As he has written several times since October 7, the era of deception is over, and the ruling makes clear that it is not possible to maintain a large army to protect us, as increasing sectors of the population evade,” that is, religious people not serving in the army.
Anger on the ground
As for the religious Israeli journalist (Haredi), Yisrael Cohen, he considered on Wednesday that “the Haredi street will decide the fate of the government.”
Cohen told local radio 103FM: “Since the Supreme Court’s decision, we see that there has been some kind of debate, and the ultra-Orthodox members of the Knesset have adopted a more moderate position.”
He continued: “The Haredi public did not expect the Supreme Court’s decision… and currently the Haredim are wondering: What is the alternative (if the government falls)? And it will not be better.”
Cohen added: “One rabbi or a few rabbis would be enough to lead a more radical step. Any anger on the ground would cause public pressure and then we could enter into a dynamic of dismantling the government.”
Public opinion polls in Israel suggest that if early elections are held, Netanyahu will not be able to form a government.
Since 2017, successive governments have failed to reach a consensus law regarding Haredi recruitment, after the Supreme Court annulled a law enacted in 2015 that exempted them from military service, considering that the exemption violates the “principle of equality.”
Since then, the Knesset has continued to extend their exemption from military service, and at the end of last March, an order issued by the Netanyahu government to postpone the implementation of compulsory conscription for the Haredim expired.
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