According to the forecast, approved two months ago in the Knesset committee headed by Science Minister Yaakov Peri, beginning four years hence, in 2017, yeshiva students will be obligated to enlist in the army or for civil service at the age of 21, excluding 1800 students from each civil year falling under the category of the elite scholars [masmidim] who will be permitted to continue their studies. The committee suggested that the bill include imposing criminal sanctions upon yeshiva students and kollel avreichim who continue to pursue their studies, per the approval of the Defense Minister.
Last week, the committee registered the reservations of the attorney-general, Yehuda Weinstein, who established, among other things, that the bill incorporating within it the exemption of yeshiva students from service up to the age of 21 is illegal. This is why the committee determined that the bill will only be presented as a temporary transitional measure for the ensuing four years, that is, from 2017 to 2020, after which yeshiva students will be on par with all other citizens and be forced to serve army duty from age 18, which, in chareidi eyes, would ensure the annihilation of the yeshiva world. In the following, note that receiving an exemption means that the recipient is henceforth completely free of any obligation to do army service, while a deferral means that his obligation is only postponed as long as he receives a deferral.
The new law also provides that every yeshiva student currently from age 22 and up will receive an immediate full exemption from army service, while yeshiva students aged 19 to 22 will be permitted to continue to receive a deferral, renewable each year, until the age of 22 when they, too will be eligible for an exemption. The point of this provision is to encourage these students to leave their studies and to join the working world.
The new provisions apply only those students who are 18 and under at this point. They will receive a deferral of their service until the age of 21, as long as they are enrolled in yeshivos and recognized kollelim, as has been the case up until now.
From age 21 and up, they will be required to serve in the army or in civilian public service duty, with the exception of 1800 students per year. At the same time, this bill incorporates a line of come-ons and incentives alongside acute economic sanctions against the yeshivos in order to lead to, from that year and onward, a gradual rise in the numbers of yeshiva students leaving their benches for civil or military service and to cause a rise in the percentage of mobilization even in the immediately upcoming years. Those yeshivos which do not answer to the clauses incorporated in the law will be subject to the most acute economic sanctions possible.
In addition, the new law states that every student turning 17 will be obligated as of now to present himself at the army recruitment stations for registration and physical examination to begin with, and refusal to appear will result in the immediate application of those criminal charges as anchored in the law. Besides, every 17-year-old who does not register will not be included in the future in the special plans for yeshiva students and his yeshiva will not receive the budget allocation from him beginning from age 18.
