Katz set to approve 7,000 conscription orders for ultra-Orthodox Jews: Report
Israeli Army Radio reports that Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has decided on 7,000 conscription orders to ultra-Orthodox Jews to be sent out gradually starting next month.
Israel’s ultra-Orthodox Jews are commonly referred to as Haredim (Haredi in the singular) in Hebrew. They are the most religious demographic in Israel and typically segment themselves from broader society to devote themselves to prayer and worship.
Even before the state of Israel was created after the expulsion of Palestinians from their homes in 1948 – the event known as the Nakba – an exemption was agreed upon for ultra-Orthodox Jews.
Due to their high birthrate, ultra-Orthodox Israelis grew to become a significant part of the population over time. Last year, the group consisted of 1.3 million people in Israel, about 13 percent of the population.
Each year, about 13,000 ultra-Orthodox men reach the age of conscription, but 90 percent of them do not enlist.
Israel’s government ‘pushing more and more for endless war’
Uri Misgav, a commentator with Israel’s Haaretz newspaper, says the far-right government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is becoming increasingly unpredictable as war rages in Lebanon and Gaza.
He expressed concern over Netanyahu’s threat to order the military deeper into Lebanon if a truce with Hezbollah is not reached. “Israel doesn’t have enough soldiers to back up these plans in my opinion. It’s very hard to tell what Netanyahu is doing,” Misgav told Al Jazeera.
“Netanyahu and his Likud party are pushing more and more for endless war because they know the moment there’s a ceasefire in Lebanon and Gaza, that’s the end of their regime. They’ll have to be investigated for the crimes and to pay the toll in elections in Israel.”
But he added: “I’ve learned to not predict the moves by Netanyahu and never to say he’s over. Miraculously, politically, he’s managed to manoeuvre through everything.”
Israeli minister rejects appeals for aid to north Gaza
Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir spoke out against more aid deliveries for besieged northern Gaza despite the catastrophic humanitarian situation.
“As long as we have hostages in the Gaza Strip, we must not make any concessions, not even to the civilian population,” he told the Israeli news portal Arutz Sheva.
Ben-Gvir was the only one in the cabinet to vote against the further aid demanded by the United States. The United Nations and aid organisations are warning of an immediate outbreak of famine in the northern Strip.
In October, the US government gave Israel a 30-day deadline to improve the provision of aid to the civilian population in Gaza, threatening to block US military aid if it failed to do so. When the deadline expired at the beginning of the week, the US said Israel hasn’t broken American law.
