Conscription of the ultra-Orthodox (ზილოტების მაგალითი გადაიღონ, სიონისტური განძრახვები გქონდეს და სამხედრო საქმე არ გინდოდეს სადაა ეგრე ?
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In June, the Israeli Supreme Court ordered an end to a longstanding exemption from mandatory military service for the country’s ultra-Orthodox Jews. Mr. Gallant approved initial conscription orders for thousands of ultra-Orthodox men.
The ultra-Orthodox exemption has long polarized Israeli society, where most Jewish 18-year-olds, men and women, are conscripted for years of obligatory service. Many ultra-Orthodox view sending their children to the Israeli military as unacceptable, fearing they might be swayed by secularism or looser interpretations of religious practice.
As the ultra-Orthodox population has grown to over one million — more than 13 percent of the country — other Jewish Israelis have become increasingly frustrated and resentful of its military exemption. They say it is fundamentally unfair and untenable, especially as Israel is fighting wars on multiple fronts.
Political analysts said that the government’s internal struggle over conscription also threatened the stability of Mr. Netanyahu’s coalition, which depends on the support of two ultra-Orthodox parties that support the exemption.
Yesterday, Mr. Gallant approved the conscription of an additional 7,000 ultra-Orthodox men, adding new fuel to the dispute.
‘Total victory’ over Hamas
Mr. Netanyahu’s office publicly slammed Mr. Gallant in August after Israeli news media reported that the defense minister had disparaged the prime minister’s goal of achieving a “total victory” over Hamas in the Gaza Strip. (
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Mr. Gallant reportedly told lawmakers in a private security briefing that the idea was “nonsense.”
“When Gallant adopts the anti-Israel narrative, he harms the chances of reaching a hostage-release deal,” the prime minister’s office said in a statement. Victory over Hamas and the release of hostages, the statement said, is the “clear directive of Prime Minister Netanyahu and the cabinet, and it obligates everyone — including Gallant.”
In his video statement on Tuesday about dismissing Mr. Gallant, Mr. Netanyahu began by saying that his primary obligation as prime minister was to ensure Israel’s security and lead the country to “total victory,” and he again accused Mr. Gallant of playing into narratives that undermine Israel’s interests.
Mr. Netanyahu’s rift with the defense minister was evident in May when Mr. Gallant, in a televised address, criticized Mr. Netanyahu’s lack of vision for a postwar Gaza.
This failure, Mr. Gallant said, was driving Israel toward two possible outcomes, both unappealing: Either Israeli would occupy Gaza militarily, or Hamas would return to power, undermining Israel’s military gains. “We will pay in blood and many victims, for no purpose, as well as a heavy economic price,” Mr. Gallant said.
The defense minister also implicitly accused Mr. Netanyahu of putting his own political survival above national interests.
In addition, Mr. Gallant and other Israeli officials have called for an investigation into the security failures that led to the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel that ignited the current conflicts. More than a year into the war, there has been no such reckoning, which could lay blame at the feet of both the prime minister and the defense minister.
Mr. Netanyahu has said that an investigation should wait until after the war. Mr. Gallant said on Tuesday after his dismissal that “only sunlight, and an investigation of the truth, would allow us to draw lessons and build our forces to face the challenges of the future.”
Israel’s judicial overhaul
In early 2023, Mr. Netanyahu announced that he had fired Mr. Gallant — and then reversed his decision 15 days later — during a contentious clash within Israel over Mr. Netanyahu’s proposed overhaul of the judicial system to limit the power of Israel’s Supreme Court
With many military reservists vowing not to serve if the overhaul was enacted, Mr. Gallant criticized the plan and said it threatened military readiness. His dismissal spurred nationwide protests and intensified an already dramatic domestic crisis — one of the gravest in Israeli history, which many in Israel have come to believe helped to embolden Hamas to execute the Oct. 7 attacks.
The episode cemented Mr. Gallant’s reputation among some Israelis as a bulwark against the most extreme far-right elements of Mr. Netanyahu’s government, and the defense minister seemed to embrace that image throughout the war.
Announcing the decision last year to keep Mr. Gallant in his cabinet, after all, Mr. Netanyahu said: “There were disagreements between us, even serious disagreements on some issues, but I decided to leave the disagreements behind us.”
By dismissing his defense minister, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has consolidated his hold over his coalition by removing his main internal critic, making it easier for him to set wartime policy in the short term.
But the move also comes with long-term risks. By firing a popular rival who had opposed some of his most divisive policies, Mr. Netanyahu has fueled criticism that he thinks his personal survival is more important than the national interest.
ვერ აქვს შარლატან ბენჯამინს საქმე კარგად
This post has been edited by Hadesa on 7 Nov 2024, 03:51 
აშშ-ს საპრეზიდენტო არჩევნები, ახალი ამბები, პროგნოზები, შედეგები
