Confused at the top
Barak slams draft dodgers while Treasury busy creating more of them
Our ricochet Defense Minister (he keeps bouncing back,) Ehud Barak, is outraged. Not because some people are angry with him because they weren’t invited to his wedding last Friday. Although personally, I’m assuming my invitation got lost in the mail. But that’s not it. Barak is angry because he believes our army is becoming “the army of half the people.” He’s not talking about the army only protecting half the people. He’s talking about the growing draft-dodging, which he views as a serious issue.
I couldn’t agree more, and I know he’ll be happy to hear that. I have two children. One of my children has finished the army and the other is in the army now. I’m proud of that. However, a couple of friends of theirs dodged the army when it was time to go. They are no longer my children’s friends, and that’s okay with me, too. That’s the way things work around here in Israel. The army in Israel is so much more than just a draft and enlistment. It still is a source of pride, honor, and a rite of passage into Israeli society (no matter how hard the politicians work to screw that up.)
So you know I took it seriously when Barak talked about “…the delegitimization of military service by certain elements of Israeli society, from university lecturers who fail to offer make-up exams for students doing reserve duty, through opinion leaders who promote cultural icons – their children – who have chosen to evade army service, and employers who fire reservists who have gone to serve their country”.
Hasn’t he forgotten someone? I'm sure our great defense minister and probable candidate for the office of prime minister (again) wouldn't deliberately neglect to mention all groups of disgraceful draft dodgers. He wouldn't do this for the sake of retaining or gaining a few votes. After all, this is the honor of the army he's talking about. This is something that affects every Israeli, bar none. So, he wouldn't do that just to avoid ruffling a few feathers. Would he?
Ben-Gurion would be screaming
Evidently this is just another case of the government’s left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing. Because, almost in tandem with Barak’s scathing lashing out at draft dodgers, the Finance Ministry of the government of which he is an important part, came up with a brand new plan.
According to the Finance Ministry’s new plan, the strictly Orthodox will not only be exempt from army service forever…but will be rewarded for dodging the draft. The plan makes the Tal Law, as backwards as it is, null and void. It will allow a person, as long as he is “in yeshiva,” to also enter the workforce with absolutely no negative consequences.
Of course there are strict stipulations. The person must be 23 years old with two kids, and all married “yeshiva students” will be allowed to continue their studies part-time, work full-time, and still be exempt from military conscription. I’m not sure about the percentage of strictly Orthodox men this would apply to, but I don’t think anyone would argue with me if I used the term “large”.
Did anyone forward this memo to Barak?
Wait. If you’re very quiet and listen very carefully, you can hear David Ben-Gurion faintly screaming, “This is not what I meant to happen!” You see, when Ben-Gurion originally issued draft exemptions for yeshiva students when the country was in its infancy, it was only meant to apply to a few gifted students that would become rabbinical leaders. He was sure this group of people would never take advantage of the government’s leniency. But then again, I’d bet he’d be very surprised about a lot of things that are happening in our government today.
So, while our defense minister is busy rallying against draft dodgers, our Finance Ministry is busy creating draft dodgers. I love being a comedian in this country, but sometimes they make it too easy.
NOTE
To: Left Hand
From: Right Hand
Message: Hey! What are you doing over there?!
