A Pivot Point for the Haredi Draft

The costly war in Gaza has brought the complicated discussion about military conscription of the Haredim to a boil. When so many are sacrificing their lives, and when the burden on the serving public is increasing to levels that are physically and economically debilitating, the fact that a fifth of the Jewish population avoids conscription is creating uncontainable rage. An April deadline looms for drafting them like everyone else or passing legislation formally exempting them. Public anger at the Oct. 7 debacle is such that mass protests against the government are already primed to return to the streets; if the government chooses the latter path on the Haredi draft issue (here’s an analysis of the proposed law), the level of anger could become politically untenable.