One of the beautiful things about ultra-Orthodox Jews is their refusal to bear the burden of militarism. It is this lofty virtue of all things that enlightened Israelis seek to destroy. Really, why this jealousy? Where does this obsession to infect everyone with the bacteria of occupation and machismo come from? It is presumably more of a psychological thing than a military necessity. The so-called democrats fear the moment the Haredi community will tell them it is “innocent of the blood of this righteous man,” that is to say the Palestinians groaning under the occupation. No sir, everyone who lives in Israel must be a part of the machinery of power. If they don’t want that, let them look for a different country, where they can be innocent of these injustices.
And when those who demand military conscription for Haredi men are the elite of the intellectuals’ tribe, the attic is crammed with complicated insights by way of justification. They include the principle of equality, in this case sharing equally the burden of maintaining the occupation. But is it possible to subject the maintenance of the occupation to the principle of equality, when according to a United Nations resolution the occupation is illegitimate and its proceeding are filled with resolutions calling on Israel to withdraw from the territories? Therefore, at both the individual and the collective levels, Israelis have the right to refuse to bear a burden that is illegitimate and contravenes the principles of the UN principles, to which Israel is also a signatory. On the contrary, it is the duty of the decent citizen to oppose occupation, and not only to refuse to participate in it.
The approach of the enlightened poses a dilemma to every law-abiding citizen: to obey the government, thereby violating international law and the humanitarian imperative, or to refuse and suffer heavy penalties, as do soldiers who refuse to serve in the territories and are jailed for months because they adopted the universal principles.
Although the Haredi refusal to serve is based not on these motives but rather a religious one – “Torah study is his vocation” – Haredim hold to the principle of human dignity and liberty, as do secular conscientious objectors who refuse to serve out of pacifism and not necessarily due to the occupation. How cruel it is to push young people into a lethal system that does not match their worldview.
Moreover, forcing another community to serve in the army tightens the noose around the neck of Israeli democracy because the military, with its lethal structure, is the No. 1 manufacturer of ultranationalism and blind fascism. Every community that is drafted contributes significantly to the expansion of fascism, especially today when members of the lunatic fringe figures such as Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir are in the driver’s seat and the military, in order to justify its deadly operations, must intensify its demonization of the Palestinians living under the occupation while at the same time fanning hatred for every trace of democracy in Israel.
While many Haredim hold ultranationalist beliefs, it is Zionist Haredim, who do serve in the military, who put fascism into practice. The Hawara rioters were from the latter group. But how absurd that when the right was called to support Benjamin Netanyahu in the face of the general strike that was declared to protest the prime minister’s dismissal of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, most of the demonstrators were from the settlements, and most were supporters of Smotrich and Ben-Gvir.
Another aspect: See how pragmatic Likud is, and how much it indulges members of its camp. Despite all its ultranationalist slogans, at crunch time the party gives those without whom it would not be in power whatever they want, even on an issue considered heretical in Israeli culture: draft exemption. On the other hand, look at how stingy the so-called center-left camp is toward the Arabs, without whom it cannot form a government. Look, and you’ll understand why the right stays in power. It protects its allies, while the other side is a master at oppresses its allies.
Forget drafting the Haredim! True democracy doesn’t encourage militarism, especially in an occupying state.
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