The number of women drafted into the armed forces decreased by three percent between 1976 and 1978 because greater numbers of them are claiming exemption on religious grounds. Gen. Moshe Nativ, head of the army’s manpower branch, told the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Security Committee that 52.2 percent of draft age women were inducted in 1978 compared to 55.2 percent in 1976. He said exemptions on religious. grounds increased by more than seven percent last year.
This was apparently the result of an amendment to the draft law, demanded by the Orthodox Aguda Israel faction that provided exemption for women claiming to be religious on the basis of a written affidavit. Previously, the claimant was required to appear before a panel. Nativ said the number of claimants dropped after the army began spot checks of affidavits and prosecuted those whose affidavits appeared to be false.
Committee chairman Moshe Arens said his committee had been promised by supporters of the amendment that it would not reduce the number of women conscripts. In practice, this has not been the case, he said.
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