Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara stated in a position paper on Wednesday that controversial legislation to regulate ultra-Orthodox enlistment to the military would actually disincentivize recruitment, and provide for the needs of yeshivas and their draft-shunning students rather than for the manpower needs of the military.

The bill, which is currently being legislated in the Knesset, would not alleviate the critical shortage of manpower facing the Israel Defense Forces or the burden of service on reservists, but would deny the army effective tools to enforce conscription, she maintained.

“Not only does it fail to promote the enlistment of members of the Haredi community for military service, but it also contains a negative incentive for recruitment and even anchors in the long term the inequality between the communities that perform [military] service and the communities that do not,” wrote the attorney general.

“In practice, the bill rolls back the tools currently available to the government and the army [to increase ultra-Orthodox enlistment], compared to the existing legal situation,” she added.

Baharav-Miara said that the bill would immediately provide “direct and indirect support funds” for yeshivas; restore benefits enjoyed by yeshiva students before the High Court ruled they were no longer valid; and cancel the tens of thousands of drafting orders issued to young Haredi men this year, as well as the personal enforcement measures currently available against draft evaders.

“On the other hand, the bill does not include arrangements that would advance urgent security needs as presented by the army, or reduce the burden on the reserve force, and it does not provide state and military bodies with effective tools to immediately enforce the draft obligation,” she added.

“Adjusting the law to constitutional standards requires profound and........

© The Times of Israel