BREAKING NEWS

Netanyahu associates suggest sanctions on Leftist evaders

By GIL STERN STERN HOFFMAN

JULY 1, 2012 19:00

If personal sanctions are allayed on haredim (ultra-Orthodox) who avoid army service, leftist peace activists and secular draft evaders should also be fined, sources close to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu were quoted as saying Sunday.

The Keshev Committee tasked with finding an alternative to the Tal Law that would equalize the burden of IDF service reached a stalemate over the weekend due to a dispute between Netanyahu and Kadima on whether benefits should be cut from individual haredim or only their religious establishments.

Netanyahu's associates raised the issue of leftist evaders in order to prove a point that haredim should not be punished for their ideology. Left-wing organizations blasted Netanyahu's associates for making the comparison between haredim and conscientious objectors.

"What they said shows a complete lack of understanding of democracy,” said Ishai Menuchin, the chairman of Amnesty International Israel. “Sanctioning those on the Left who do not want to be part of an occupying army or those on the Right who oppose abandoning the land of Israel would be wrong. Those whose conscience does not permit them to take part in one kind of army or another should be allowed to fulfill their debt to society in a different way and not via army service.”

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