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Israel

Knesset passes Charedi draft law

March 12, 2014 10:59
Military police officer and Charedi man near the Wailing Wall (Photo: Alan Kotok)

By

Daniel Easterman,

Daniel Easterman

1 min read

A contentious new law that will criminalise strictly Orthodox yeshivah students who evade Israeli army service was passed by Knesset this morning.

The so-called "Draft Law" was approved by 65 to 1, with a Jewish Home MK casting the only "no" vote. Most of those who opposed the law simply boycotted the vote.

The groundbreaking legislation lays out a three-year transitional period during which the number of young Charedim enlisted will be steadily increased until 2017, by which time the target will be to have 5,200 new strictly-Orthodox recruits in the army.

Jewish Home MK Yoni Chetboun, who is not himself Charedi, said: "I oppose the Draft Law. It is ill-conceived, and comes at the peak of a wave of anti-religious legislation that seeks to dilute the Jewish character of the state of Israel."

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