Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told the press he does not feel threatened by the announcement released by his foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, who heads the Yisrael Beitenu party. In keeping in line with his party’s platform Lieberman announced that if the government does not move ahead with legislation to pass a law that compels all citizens to serve in the IDF or an alternative accepted national service, his party will begin activities towards advancing general elections, signaling he will pull out of the coalition.
Lieberman’s election success was based on a number of major points, including a promise to loyalists that his party will continue pushing for compulsory military service for all citizens, including chareidim and Arabs.
Lieberman told Channel 2 News that his party must remain loyal to voters and as a result, the party’s loyalty to the coalition has ended – explaining that to date, he has done everything to keep the coalition afloat but in ten days, he will be presenting his party’s alternative to the Tal Law and if it does not pass in Knesset, then it will be time for elections. He explains that his party will not permit any sector of society to have a free ride, and this demands military or national service from all citizens, without exception.
The foreign minister stated that ideally, elections would be in 2013 at the end of the government’s four-year term but he is unwilling to betray voters on the matter of compulsory national service for all and if that means early elections, so be it.
The prime minister stated he will not be “blackmailed” by coalition partners and is willing to go to early elections if there is no alternative.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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5 Responses
The current is on the brink of a nuclear war (Iran doesn’t have the bomb, but there is another Muslim country that does and wouldn’t mind testing it on Tel Aviv as an act of Muslim solidarity).
The world’s economy is in an apparent long term depression, and Israel’s proximity to Europe makes them very vulnerable if conditions worsen.
And the Israelis are arguing about drafting people who would be very unwilling and disruptive soldiers that most Israelis wouldn’t want to serve with, and probably wouldn’t trust.
Now is the time to break the stranglehold that the Chareidim have on the Israeli political system. They are so widely hated by most Israelis because of all the recent cases of abusing women and their refusal to help defend the Medinah that by’h they would lose MKs in the election and a new government could be formed without their support. While its always risky to call for early elections, in this case, its the better option. The status quo is simply unworkable and the Tal law is only a small part of the risks that Chareidi political blackmail pose to the survival of EY.
Let the Frum Jews separate from that state. We should have nothing to do with the state, it was instituted against the Da’as Torah of all previous generation. This state is a trap there is no guarantee for its safety. The sooner we separate from it the better. Stop putting on the show of “learning for the state”. We as the Jewish people should not be involved in this.
#1 – Under the right conditions a significant amount of Charadim would serve.
#2, you were typing so fast that you wrote “Chareidim” when you meant “chilonim.” Stranglehold on the system (drafting yeshiva bochurs and avreichim r”l), abuse of women (drafting females and licentious advertising), refusing to defend the Medinah (real draft dodgers instead of draft-deferred, never learning Torah), etc. — whose doing are those? Instead of counting the minutes until there’s a govt. without Chareidi support, stop and think about the meaning of a govt. without Hashem’s support.