The Road Less Traveled

Now that every Israeli yeshivah student  who hasn’t reported to the draft office is banned from leaving the country, will Anglo-born bochurim be able to see their families any time soon?

AS soon as it became clear that the government would not ratify legislation that would protect the status of Torah learners, followed by United Torah Judaism and Shas quitting the coalition, the IDF didn’t waste any time last week sending out another 54,000 draft notices to bnei yeshivah in addition to the 24,000 notices sent out over the last year. For the first time in the history of the Jewish State, the IDF is making a sweeping draft of yeshivah students who are clearly recognized as dedicated Torah scholars.

What this means in broad terms is that — with no yeshivah deferrals in place — learning in yeshivah is now illegal, and every learner between the ages of 18 and 26 who remains in yeshivah is legally classified as a criminal. While a first call-up (tzav rishon) doesn’t mean an automatic or immediate induction to the IDF (it could take another year for follow-up, he could have a medical discharge, a low profile, or another reason for not being inducted), yeshivah leaders are not playing along. As long as no legislation is in place to protect the olam haTorah, bochurim have been instructed by their roshei yeshivah to ignore even the initial summons.

But it doesn’t only mean that every yeshivah bochur or young avreich in Eretz Yisrael is a criminal in theory: Personal sanctions have already been put in place, including threat of arrest beginning within six weeks, disqualification from academic scholarships, loss of tax credit points and day care discounts, exclusion from various vocational and employment benefits, suspension or denial of driver’s licenses and a ban on leaving the country.

(If a young man shows up to present himself at the draft office, those sanctions get cancelled, but so far, roshei yeshivah across the board have declared that until legislation clears up the status of thousands of full-time learners, there will be no appearing at the draft office, and no cooperation. They’ve essentially cut off from the IDF.)