Minister Amsalem presented a petition to the High Court, asking the government to draft all of the citizens, literally, including even Arab citizens. This plea is driving many various factions of the population crazy, regarding this as a joke of the court. It is inconceivable that judges sitting in the court be able to conscript Arabs to the army.
Arabs make up over 20% of the Israeli population, far more than the chareidi sector. Drafting them into the army or to public civilian service can provide the country with significant aid and save it billions of shekalim. On the other hand, withholding budgets from Arab educational institutions with students of draft age can boost the treasury with many billions of shekalim a month, far more than the few tens of millions which the government would save by doing so to those who study Torah.
But no one dares touch the Arabs. In one of the 'knitted kipah' national religious newspapers, a certain columnist wrote in sheer shock, "Do we wish to live in a country which requires symmetry between Arabs and chareidim? Given, we can talk about denying certain budgets and we can talk about providing certain benefits which Israeli Arabs plentifully receive without justification, but to compare mobilizing chareidi Jews alongside Arabs?"
Yes, why not? If not serving in the army results in withholding budgets and declaring the chareidim as renegades, why should Arabs benefit from privileges accorded to citizens of the state? Just try to imagine the huge uproar which would ensue were the government to halt budgets to 'enlightened' higher education institutions where Arabs of army age study in masses! All 'brothers at arms' of various ilk, organizations demanding denying citizen rights to chareidim, would defend to the very toenails the rights of Arabs of army age.
We need now only to await what the High Court has to say about Amsalem's appeal. But the Arabs can rest at ease. Familiar with this abominable body which called for denying the budgets of the chareidi world, that it will find some suitable legislative loophole to differentiate between chareidi allocations and Arab ones. Those sitting comfortably in their judicial ivory tower will not dare touch by as much as a grush, even one of the collective billions streaming in to the Arab sector, and the cry for "equality in the national responsibility' will remain in the realm of the chareidim alone.
'Beyachad' — Together? Not Quite
There were some who erroneously believed that the devastating massacre of Simchas Torah would change Israeli society. The motto "Together We will Win", which was prefaced by chareidim as "With the help of Hashem..." came to emphasize the feeling of 'togetherness'.
The murderers of Gaza did not differentiate between secular and religious, between Leftists and Rightists, not even between Arabs and Jews, foreign workers and Israeli citizens. In their opinion, anyone who lived in that area deserved the death sentence. This was Palestinian territory and no one had the right to inhabit it save for Palestinians, no matter what race, creed or nationality.
Indeed, the feeling of mutual responsibility during the first few weeks was amazing. It enveloped all the gradations of the general population in the country. People went out of their way, each in his own way, to help, support and assist everyone in need thereof. And this encompassed everyone who did everything for the sake of soldiers and citizens, north and south. They gave their all out of a sense of overriding partnership, including, for example, aid and hospitality to thousands of families evacuated from the settlements of the Gaza Area.
The real help project was assumed by the Torah world through rededication in study, prayer, increased intensity in the mitzvos between man and his Creator, and the interpersonal mitzvos as well, knowing that this was the best and tried way to save Jewry from those who sought to destroy it.
But somewhere, secretly, behind the curtains and far from the seeing eye, there sat divisive separatists, rabble rousers, incendiaries, and well poisoners, waiting... They knew that their day would arrive and they would return to the fore to create rifts. The public would recover from the initial shock and return to the streets, with one pretext or another. They didn't yet know what the trigger would be to send the masses to the streets, not thinking yet about the hostages, the Torah students or elections, but devoutly believing that the subject for division and fomentation would find its way to the forefront. This was their expertise. This was their glorious record in recent years, and surely, eventually, it would materialize. And it did.
