The Knesset plenum today passed the Equal Service Law in its second and third readings, a day after passing the Governance Law. The vote was 66:1; MK Yoni Chetboun (Habayit Hayehudi) cast the sole dissenting vote. The controversial law replaces the Tal Law, which the Supreme Court invalidated last year.
The opposition did not enter the plenum to vote, continuing its boycott and holding an alternative session in another auditorium. The Labor Party said, however, that had it participated in the debate, it would have voted in favor of the law.
Following the vote, the Knesset began the debate on the Referendum Law, and is scheduled to vote on at 6:30 pm today.
It is not clear whether the opposition will boycott British Prime Minister David Cameron's visit to the Knesset. Labor Party chairman Isaac Herzog will meet Cameron as scheduled.
Under the Equal Service Law, beginning in 2017, 74% of yeshiva students will be drafted into the IDF each year. The number of eligible draftees is 5,200 a year. If the haredi (ultra-orthodox) men fail to turn up, they will be liable to criminal sanctions, including imprisonment. Until now, haredi have been exempted from military service. The law has been fiercely criticized, including with the argument that the government cannot enforce it.
"For 65 years, yeshiva students have had a near universal exemption, but the coalition has submitted a proportionate, gradual, and right amendment. I believe that the haredi community will meet the targets that the government has set, and that the Equal Service Law will not need to be enforced," said Special Committee for the Equal Sharing of the Burden Bill chairwoman MK Ayelet Shaked (Habayit Hayehudi), at the start of today's debate.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 12, 2014
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