In Historic Protest Israel's Orthodox Break with Settler Right

[Jefferson23]

Following the passing of a law proposal that will extend forced conscription to Jewish orthodox,
half a million ascend on Jerusalem

March 10, 2014

On Wednesday, March 6th the Israeli government, Shaked Committee approved a law proposal that would extend forced conscription to the Jewish Orthodox. Today in Israel, military service is mandatory for all Jewish citizens, except the ultra Orthodox. The history of this exemption goes back to the founding of the state and has caused increasing tension between the secular and religious communities. Despite the law proposal only moving into the Parliamentary plenum next week and potentially being impossible to implement, the three main sects of the Ultra Orthodox held their own historic meeting and joined forces against it. On Sunday, nearly half a million ascended on Jerusalem. Shutting down the entrance to the city, they held a massive prayer demonstration. The Real News' Lia Tarachansky spoke to Shahar Ilan, a lobbyist in support of forced conscription and Itzik Sudri, the former spokesperson of SHAS, the biggest Orthodox party.


LIA TARACHANSKY, PRODUCER: On Wednesday, March 6, the Israeli government's Shaked Committee approved a law proposal that would extend forced conscription to the Jewish Orthodox. The proposal will be brought before the parliament this week and is expected to pass, despite the 18 seats held by Shas and other ultra-Orthodox parties in the opposition.

Today in Israel military service is mandatory for all Jewish citizens except the ultra-Orthodox. The history of this exemption goes back to the founding of the state and has caused increasing tension between the secular and religious communities.

Following the 2012 social justice protests, a new party, under the leadership of journalist Yair Lapid, was formed with the promise of equalizing the burden when it comes to military service. The slogan has become the party's political crutch, and after the law proposal passed just the first reading, its leader rushed to declare a historic win for the nation.

in full: http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=11563