Dilemma of Israeli army drafting ultra-Orthodox Jews

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/religion-and-beliefs/news/article.cfm?c_id=301&objectid=10819739

Phoebe Greenwood
5:30 AM Monday Jul 16, 2012




Proposals to draft ultra-Orthodox men into the Israeli army, ending an exemption that has lasted for 64 years, are bitterly dividing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition Government before a crucial debate tomorrow.

A new bill allowing the draft is due to be submitted for its first reading in the Knesset, after a ruling by the country's supreme court that the Tal Law, exempting Haredi Jews from military service, was unconstitutional.

That law is due to expire on August 1, but what will replace it has become the subject of ferocious argument over one of the most sensitive issues in Israeli society.

As Netanyahu faced a weekend of crisis talks with his deputy and political rival, Kadima leader Shaul Mofaz, senior government sources conceded that their chances of reaching a solution to save their coalition were slim.

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