The Israeli military announced Tuesday that it will begin the selection process for candidates from Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community next week.
The issue is particularly sensitive in the context of the war against Hamas in Gaza and fighting on other fronts that have caused Israel’s worst casualties in decades.
Israelis are required by law to perform military service from the age of 18 for 24 to 32 months. Members of Israel’s 21 percent Arab minority and ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students have largely been exempt for decades.
In June, Israel’s Supreme Court ruled that the Defense Ministry must end a longstanding exemption for ultra-Orthodox seminarians, creating new political tensions for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
An Israeli military statement said on Sunday that “the process of issuing initial call-up orders for the first conscript” will begin ahead of the next recruitment cycle in July.
Small clashes broke out between ultra-Orthodox protesters and police on Tuesday. Dozens of people blocked Israel’s main highway, but were quickly dispersed.
Netanyahu’s coalition includes two ultra-Orthodox parties that see the exemptions as key to keeping their voters in religious seminaries and away from a military cauldron that could test their conservative values.
The issue has sparked protests from ultra-Orthodox Jews, who make up 13 percent of Israel’s 10 million people, a figure that is expected to rise to 19 percent by 2035.
Source: Terra
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