Women who wish to be exempted from military service will find it easier to do so under a new bill passed Monday on first reading in the Knesset. The bill abolishes the exemption committee which until now interviewed women who applied for religious deferments to determine whether they were observant.
If the bill becomes law, a woman will only have to declare before a civil or religious judge that her religious convictions or her family’s way of life preclude her from doing military service. The bill, which was provided for in the Likud-Agudath Israel government coalition agreement, has caused renewed tension between the liberal and conservative wings of the Knesset.
The bill was referred to the Knesset Security and Foreign Affairs Committee by a vote of 41-37. Democratic Movement for Change (DMC) Knesseters, including Justice Minister Shmuel Tamir, voted against the bill, along with the Labor Alignment opposition which led the attack. A bill becomes law after approval on the third reading. Former Education Minister Aharon Yadlin said that “an automatic exemption is a national scandal. Religion will become a cover for staying out of a national duty.” But Rabbi Kalman Kahana of Poalei Agudath Israel argued that in the early days of the State the Orthodox had been promised there would be separate army camps for men and women but that it was never implemented. He suggested that for those military tasks for which women are suited they should do as civilians.
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