Israel's Domestic Politics

Israel's parliament makes it easier for the ultra-Orthodox to refuse military service

The Knesset has passed a controversial law that makes it easier for ultra-Orthodox Jews to refuse military service. Critics see it as an affront to the fighting troops. The debate divides Israeli society in the middle of the war.

Deutschlandfunk reports that Israel's parliament has passed a law that eases military service for the Haredim. The center-left Haaretz comments sharply: the "Torah study law spits in the soldiers' faces," and accuses the ultra-Orthodox of letting secular Tel Avivians die for the flag while they themselves remain in the yeshiva. The sources here are deliberately domestic Israeli and clearly critical of the law; a detailed defense from the religious camp is missing, so the picture comes out one-sidedly at the expense of the Haredim. The dispute hits Israel at a time when conscription is already strained by the ongoing state of war.

Deutschlandfunk · Haaretz