Israel OKs Controversial Law To Conscript Ultra-Orthodox Jews
Israeli lawmakers have voted to end the practice of exemptions from national service for ultra-Orthodox Jews, or Haredi, a move that opens them up to military conscription for the first time in the country's 65-year history.
The Knesset passed the measure 67-1 with the opposition boycotting it in the 120-member legislature.
Haredi Judaism is a branch of the religion that shuns modern secular culture, which includes Hasidics. Adherents are distinguished partly by their conservative and uniform attire.
The Jerusalem Post reports:
"The law has been heavily criticized by leading experts on haredi society. Last week, a group of 30 leading experts and analysts of the haredi community said that the law, which will provides for the imprisonment of any yeshiva student refusing to serve, would lead to a halt in the integration of the haredi community into national service.
"They warned that the possibility exists that the arrest of yeshiva students could lead to civil rebellion against enlistment, violent protests and a decree from the leading haredi rabbis banning enlistment."