Secular Café: A possible profound change in Israel.

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A possible profound change in Israel. Jul 14th 2012, 13:57 If the ultra-Orthodox are obliged to serve in the army, will they be less hardline against the Arabs? http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012...draft-orthodox Quote: Proposals to draft ultra-Orthodox men into the Israeli army, ending an exemption that has lasted for 64 years, are bitterly dividing prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu's coalition government ahead of a crucial debate on Monday. A new bill allowing the draft is due to be submitted for its first reading in the Knesset, following a ruling by the country's supreme court that the Tal Law, exempting Haredi Jews from military service, was unconstitutional. That law is due to expire on 1 August, but what will replace it has become the subject of ferocious argument over one of the most sensitive issues in Israeli society... ...The debate has gripped the Jewish state. For Israel's ultra-Orthodox, the preservation of the Haredim's right to study rather than serve represents a battle for the preservation of the Jewish people, pitting the value of the body against the worth of the soul... ... "I believe if you take from the government you have to give back to it." This is the opinion of most Israelis, many of whom are outraged that the state pours money into a community that does not work, typically has large numbers of children, does not pay taxes and does not serve in the military. Last Saturday about 20,000 people demonstrated in Tel Aviv to demand that the country's Orthodox and Arab citizens share the burden of military service. Senior retired military figures and political leaders, including the former opposition leader Tzipi Livni, joined the crowd of protesters, calling for "one people, one draft"... ...Yaakov Uri, who runs a pizza parlour in Geula, an Orthodox neighbourhood in Jerusalem, said the problem was that secular Israelis...had no understanding of the sacrifices religious Jews make for them. "You think it's so easy to sit and study all day, bring up seven children on $700 a month? No, it's very hard," he said. These men, in his opinion, are as critical for the defence of Israel as the army. They provide spiritual protection. "The Torah is saving and guarding the Jews," Uri said. "Take the Iraq war. Saddam Hussein sent 39 Scud missiles into Israel. They didn't touch anyone. What is this? It wasn't the army – they sat with their arms folded. It was the Torah," he said. "There many kinds of soldiers, on planes, on ships, but also in the yeshiva."

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