Israel may cut funding to military service evaders, including the ultra-Orthodox

Israeli opposition leader, Yair Lapid, introduced a revised draft law yesterday, stipulating that individuals evading military or civil service would no longer be eligible for state funding.

According to The Times of Israel, this proposal came following widespread calls to end the de facto exemption of the ultra-Orthodox community from military service. Lapid emphasised the principle of equality before the law, claiming that everyone should contribute to and protect the country.

“This law means one simple thing: everyone is equal before the law. Everyone protects the country. Everyone contributes to the country. There is not one sector that is released [from responsibility] because it is needed in the coalition,” said Lapid.

“The new law will be clear and simple: those who evade will not receive money. Those who do not serve in the army or civil service will not receive allowances from the State,” he added, arguing that the legislation “will lead to a real equality of the burden”.

The issue of exemptions for the ultra-Orthodox community from Israel’s mandatory draft has gained renewed attention in recent weeks due to proposed changes by the IDF and government to the security service and reserve service laws earlier this month, aiming to extend the duration of service for conscripts and reservists.

The ultra-Orthodox community has traditionally been exempt from military service, often protesting or refusing draft orders and advocating for legal protection of this exemption. Many within the Haredi community perceive military service and broader integration with the secular world as a threat to their religious identity and the preservation of their insular community traditions, reported The Times of Israel. 

Moreover, the proposed plan is a response to manpower shortages resulting from its deadly offensive in the Gaza Strip and tensions along the northern border with Lebanon.

Lapid, yesterday, also reiterated that drafting the ultra-Orthodox into the army could prevent the need for the government’s proposed changes, stating that “if they are recruited, there is no need to extend mandatory service.”

In a letter addressed to Israeli Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant, Lapid urged the former General to withdraw the government’s bill aimed at prolonging enlistment terms by transforming the IDF into a “real people’s army”.

“It is impossible to bear the fact that there are tens of thousands of families in Israel who do not sleep at night because of fear. Terrified by a knock on the door. Every day there are dead, every day there are wounded, and only one sector gets an exemption,” he wrote.

Figures released by the army showed that 1,361 soldiers had been wounded since Israel launched its ground offensive in the Gaza Strip on 27 October. According to military figures, at least 570 soldiers have been killed and 2,909 others injured since 7 October.

In that period, at least 28,663 Palestinians have since been killed and 68,395 others injured.

The Israeli war on Gaza has pushed 85 per cent of the territory’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60 per cent of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which in an interim ruling this January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

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