God's Army - How Many is Enough?

God’s Army…How Many is Enough? By Sherwin Pomerantz The last month has seen a tremendous amount of press devoted to the discussion of the replacement of Israel’s Tal Law which dealt with the handling of deferments for young people of military age who are studying in religious schools (i.e. yeshivot). The Tal Law was passed on July 23, 2002 in the Knesset as a temporary law which needed to be renewed every five years. The bill enabled a continuation of the military exemptions to yeshiva students subject to the conditions within the bill. According to the law, at the age of 22, yeshiva students were provided with a decision year and could choose between one-year civil service alongside a paying job or a shortened 16-month military service and future service in the reserves as an alternative to continuing to study. Five motions against the law were filed with the High Court of Justice claiming it violated the principle of equality. In 2005, the state admitted, in a response to a Supreme Court petition, that the Tal Law had failed to change enlistment arrangements for ultra-Orthodox Jews, as only a few dozen had enlisted in the army as a result. The law was then extended in 2007 by another five years. On February 21, 2012, the High Court of Justice ruled that the law is unconstitutional. (An interesting term, as Israel does not have a constitution but rather a set of basic laws under which the court makes judgements.) The discussions now under way revolve around (a) a replacement for the law, (b) the feelings of many people in Israel [secular and religious alike] that universal military service should be just that, universal, for both Jews and Arabs and (c) the desire of the Haredi (i.e. ultra-orthodox) community to ensure that its adherents do not have to leave religious studies in order to serve in the military. I am not saying that every member of each of these groups feels the same way about the issue, but rather that this is the general platform on which the arguments are being aired. The Haredi leadership, particularly those who follow the rulings of the Sephardi Chief Rabbi, Shlomo Amar, has circled the wagons, as it were, urging its adherents to resist any law that would draft yeshiva students into the military. Rabbi Amar even has urged his disciples to cancel their normal vacation in the weeks leading up to the beginning of the Hebrew month of Elul in August, and to remain in their schools studying and praying for the “severe decree” to be annulled. The logic goes that those who remain in yeshivot studying, also form an army, but an army of God, whose studying also contributes to the long term survival of Israel as a Jewish country. It is difficult to argue against the value of study, but one can raise a legitimate question as to how many people need to be conscripted into such an army. Today in Israel there are, by general count, 60,000 Haredim of military age who receive exemptions from military service each year. Most estimates peg the Haredi population of Israel at about 700,000 people or about 12% of the population. Statistics show that less than 50% of Haredim are in the work force, with the bulk of the rest involved in study. So one could ask the question: Does the Army of God need to be that large? There is also concern in the Israeli Arab community as, up to this point in time, members of that community have also been exempt from military service. The committees looking into the issue are also focusing on addressing that issue of non-universality of service as it applies to that sector as well. But let’s look at the problem from a different angle. In 2010, the last year for which such figures were published, 47.5% of first graders were either Arabs or Haredim. The growth rate of the Haredi school system is 39 times greater than that of the state secular schools, and that of the Arab school system is 13 times greater. These are not demographic forecasts, which can turn out to be false; these are children who have already been born and are awaiting their turn in the education system but, sadly, unless the social fabric of the country changes, will not enter either the military or the work force. And, quite frankly, we need them in both places. OECD figures show that among developed countries Israel has the highest percentage of workers absent from the work force who could be working. And it is not only the Haredim who do not work that contribute to this number. In the Israeli Arab sector there is a similar situation but as result of other causes. While an increasing percentage of Israeli Arabs are securing college diplomas, Israeli industry has been slow to integrate such people into the work force, causing a great many of these well educated people to work in areas below their intellectual capabilities. So it is the combination of all of these factors that worry those whose responsibility it is to keep this country financially viable and economically stable. Truth be told, we need the brainpower of members of both communities in the work force in order for Israel to maintain its technological edge which is so critical to its economic progress. We need young people from both communities, whose percentage of the overall population continues to grow, to learn the skills required to keep the work force of this country up to the standards of the 21st century and beyond. To be sure we who are members of the shrinking majority need to change how we view these minorities, as they will not remain minorities much longer. Aluf Benn wrote in Ha’aretz two years ago: “We must recognize that our future depends on integrating Arabs and haredim into mainstream society. Instead of considering them freeloaders who want to eat our cake, we must start viewing them as a great opportunity: If Israel has managed to reach its current standard of living without them (in the work force), one can only imagine where we could go with the added talent and motivation that is not currently being tapped. These are enormous economic resources – far great than the natural gas reserves found off Haifa.” But in order to achieve this goal the leadership of those communities must also admit to this truth and encourage their people to grasp the opportunities that are critical to ensuring that all of us will be around and successful 40 years from now as we are today. That is the key issue on which the debate should be based as not acknowledging this truth may put the entire enterprise called Israel at risk and, under those conditions, even the Army of God may not be able to save it.