Israeli parliament mulls criminal sanctions against Orthodox draft dodgers

An Israeli parliamentary committee approved a controversial clause in a bill late Wednesday, under which ultra-Orthodox men who dodge military draft will face criminal sanctions and might be incarcerated. The clause, approved by the Shaked committee, received a green light from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Tuesday after rounds of consultations and overnight discussions, Israeli media reported. Under the bill, 5,200 ultra-Orthodox men (about 74 percent of seminary students altogether) will be obliged to join the military, starting from 2017. The bill will be voted on in its entirety in the Knesset (parliament) in March. Israeli law obliges all Israeli Jewish citizens to enlist in the army when they're 18; however, the Tal Law allowed exemptions for ultra-Orthodox men who studied in yeshivas (seminaries) in an attempt to sustain the status quo between secular and religious Jews. The Tal law, which was resented by many in the secular society, was axed by the Supreme Court in 2012 for being discriminatory. The court then ordered the state to come up with an alternative law. However, no new law has been drafted due to political strife and massive demonstrations by the ultra-Orthodox community.