Vice Premier Moshe Ya’alon is expected to present his outline for universal
enlistment to his fellow ministers on Sunday, though Likud sources said it will
not be submitted to the Knesset this summer.
On Friday, Ya’alon presented
his proposal to replace the “Tal Law” to six Kadima lawmakers, leading at least
one – MK Othniel Schneller – to announce plans to rebel against his party in
support of the outline.
The meeting was initiated by MK Avi Dichter, who
vocally opposed Kadima’s departure from the coalition last Tuesday. He was
joined by like-minded MKs Schneller and Yulia Shamalov Berkovich, who voted
against the move, as well as fellow Kadima lawmakers Yisrael Hasson, Ya’acov
Edri and Doron Avital.
The six met with Ya’alon to hear his proposal,
which he plans to present to other ministers on Sunday, in person.
The
vice premier’s outline is not expected to be brought to a vote during the
Knesset’s summer session, which ends on Wednesday.
“The outline presented
was balanced and good, and when the time comes, I plan to support the bill, even
though it goes against Kadima’s decision,” Schneller said following the
meeting.
According to Schneller, Kadima’s entry to the coalition was “a
fraudulent move” and party chairman Shaul Mofaz did not intend to find a
replacement for the Tal Law, which allowed yeshiva students to postpone IDF
service indefinitely, unless the new bill was exactly as Mofaz thought it should
be.
If Mofaz honestly wanted equality in the burden of national service,
the Schneller added, he would have been more flexible and behaved responsibly,
rather than “playing political waiting games” and preventing new legislation
from becoming law.
Hasson and Avital had the opposite reaction,
supporting Mofaz’s move to reject Ya’alon’s outline.
“I went to this
meeting to hear Ya’alon’s proposal in an unmediated fashion, and found that from
beginning to end, this outline is a fraud, a trick and a word game and does not
aim for service for all, personal responsibility and equality in society,”
Hasson said.
The Kadima MK said Ya’alon was trying to trick the public,
and Kadima made the right decision in leaving the coalition.
A Likud
source told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday that, according to Ya’alon’s
outline, haredi men will receive incentives to enlist in the IDF between the
ages of 18 and 22.
Those who do not will be required to do civilian
service by age 26 for the police, Prisons Service, Magen David Adom or Fire and
Rescue Services.
There will be sanctions against those who do not perform
military or civilian service, as well as against their yeshivot.
The
state will take yeshiva students’ biometric IDs to keep track of whether anyone
is shirking their duties.
The goal of Ya’alon’s outline is for 6,000
yeshiva students to enlist each year by 2016. Currently, 2,400 enlist in the IDF
or perform civilian service annually.