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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s fragile coalition took another hit on Tuesday when Israel’s highest court ruled unanimously that ultra-Orthodox men would no longer be exempt from military service, upending decades of precedent.
The Supreme Court ruling, which could rankle key allies of the PM, comes as Israel stands on the brink of a two-front war.
More than eight months of fighting in Gaza could potentially be joined by a full-scale conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon. Fighting on two fronts would require tens of thousands more soldiers.
Mr Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party holds 32 seats in the Knesset. But the Prime Minister’s government relies on the support of a patchwork of far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties to form a ruling coalition.
Those parties include Shas and United Torah Judaism, which oppose the change. If men from the ultra-Orthodox – also known as Haredi – community are conscripted, as the court has ruled, the religious parties could leave the coalition and collapse the government.
“If I had to guess, at a certain point, they're going to leave the coalition,’ said Rabbi Nechemia Steinberger, head of the Haredi programme and The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Mr Steinberger believes the ultra-Orthodox members of the Knesset may feel that it is better to leave than be a part of a government that forces their people to join the military.
“Part of what disturbs the Haredi community is that the Jewish state of Israel took a stand and a declaration that we do not appreciate and we do not care about the people who are keeping the original Jewish lifestyle,” Mr Steinberger told The National.
“That is the feeling of people, and that's something that they are going to protest against.”
For decades, the ultra-Orthodox have for the most part been exempt from military service, which otherwise is mandatory for Israelis.
The community believes that they are upholding original Jewish values.
“They say, ‘we are holding the spirit of the Jewish people, we've been doing this for 2000 years',” Mr Steinberger said.
While this has long been a contentious issue, the war in Gaza has turned it into a flashpoint in a society still reeling from the events of October 7 and very much on a war footing.
There is a feeling among the general public that they and their loved ones have been fighting, bleeding and dying for the state, while the ultra-Orthodox have not shared the same burden.
“Burden in terms of deaths and injuries and funerals and tragedies, and a sense of we are putting our lives on the line and your group is completely avoiding national responsibility. And it has gone past any red line,” said Gerald Steinberg, a professor of politics at Bar Ilan University.
There are more than 60,000 ultra-Orthodox men of military age – a significant number in a country of just 9.5 million people.
Israel’s attorney general called on the military to immediately draft 3,000 students from yeshiva traditional Jewish educational institutions, a relatively small percentage of those eligible.
“From what I understand, this is a number probably the Haredi parties are going to be able to live with,” said Mr Steinberger from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
The fact that not all eligible men will be drafted immediately may buy this historically right-wing government some time, but the issue will remain pressing and could still cause irrevocable damage to the coalition.
Mr Netanyahu is already Israel’s longest-serving leader. He is a political survivor, who throughout his career has demonstrated an uncanny ability to retain power and outmanoeuvre his opponents and allies.
While once a political moderate, he has steered farther and farther right in recent years, in an effort to maintain power.
“He is a very strategic thinker,” Mr Steinberg told The National. ”
He always has been and he also knows how to use power, and that [has] both positive and negative implications, but also he has actually consistently benefitted from the ineptness and the overreach of his opponents.”
Mr Steinberg believes that even though the court’s ruling poses a serious “threat to the coalition”, Mr Netanyahu remains very much in charge and at the top of the political hierarchy.
“There is no alternative out there to Netanyahu,” he said.
“There is no personality that is seen as credible in what is Israel's most critical time when leadership is most essential.”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Pakistan Super League
Previous winners
2016 Islamabad United
2017 Peshawar Zalmi
2018 Islamabad United
2019 Quetta Gladiators
Most runs Kamran Akmal – 1,286
Most wickets Wahab Riaz –65
Where to donate in the UAE
The Emirates Charity Portal
You can donate to several registered charities through a “donation catalogue”. The use of the donation is quite specific, such as buying a fan for a poor family in Niger for Dh130.
The General Authority of Islamic Affairs & Endowments
The site has an e-donation service accepting debit card, credit card or e-Dirham, an electronic payment tool developed by the Ministry of Finance and First Abu Dhabi Bank.
Al Noor Special Needs Centre
You can donate online or order Smiles n’ Stuff products handcrafted by Al Noor students. The centre publishes a wish list of extras needed, starting at Dh500.
Beit Al Khair Society
Beit Al Khair Society has the motto “From – and to – the UAE,” with donations going towards the neediest in the country. Its website has a list of physical donation sites, but people can also contribute money by SMS, bank transfer and through the hotline 800-22554.
Dar Al Ber Society
Dar Al Ber Society, which has charity projects in 39 countries, accept cash payments, money transfers or SMS donations. Its donation hotline is 800-79.
Dubai Cares
Dubai Cares provides several options for individuals and companies to donate, including online, through banks, at retail outlets, via phone and by purchasing Dubai Cares branded merchandise. It is currently running a campaign called Bookings 2030, which allows people to help change the future of six underprivileged children and young people.
Emirates Airline Foundation
Those who travel on Emirates have undoubtedly seen the little donation envelopes in the seat pockets. But the foundation also accepts donations online and in the form of Skywards Miles. Donated miles are used to sponsor travel for doctors, surgeons, engineers and other professionals volunteering on humanitarian missions around the world.
Emirates Red Crescent
On the Emirates Red Crescent website you can choose between 35 different purposes for your donation, such as providing food for fasters, supporting debtors and contributing to a refugee women fund. It also has a list of bank accounts for each donation type.
Gulf for Good
Gulf for Good raises funds for partner charity projects through challenges, like climbing Kilimanjaro and cycling through Thailand. This year’s projects are in partnership with Street Child Nepal, Larchfield Kids, the Foundation for African Empowerment and SOS Children's Villages. Since 2001, the organisation has raised more than $3.5 million (Dh12.8m) in support of over 50 children’s charities.
Noor Dubai Foundation
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched the Noor Dubai Foundation a decade ago with the aim of eliminating all forms of preventable blindness globally. You can donate Dh50 to support mobile eye camps by texting the word “Noor” to 4565 (Etisalat) or 4849 (du).
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
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- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
The past Palme d'Or winners
2018 Shoplifters, Hirokazu Kore-eda
2017 The Square, Ruben Ostlund
2016 I, Daniel Blake, Ken Loach
2015 Dheepan, Jacques Audiard
2014 Winter Sleep (Kış Uykusu), Nuri Bilge Ceylan
2013 Blue is the Warmest Colour (La Vie d'Adèle: Chapitres 1 et 2), Abdellatif Kechiche, Adele Exarchopoulos and Lea Seydoux
2012 Amour, Michael Haneke
2011 The Tree of Life, Terrence Malick
2010 Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Lung Bunmi Raluek Chat), Apichatpong Weerasethakul
2009 The White Ribbon (Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte), Michael Haneke
2008 The Class (Entre les murs), Laurent Cantet
MATCH INFO
Who: UAE v USA
What: first T20 international
When: Friday, 2pm
Where: ICC Academy in Dubai
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Profile of Bitex UAE
Date of launch: November 2018
Founder: Monark Modi
Based: Business Bay, Dubai
Sector: Financial services
Size: Eight employees
Investors: Self-funded to date with $1m of personal savings
EA Sports FC 25
Developer: EA Vancouver, EA Romania
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4&5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5
Company: Instabug
Founded: 2013
Based: Egypt, Cairo
Sector: IT
Employees: 100
Stage: Series A
Investors: Flat6Labs, Accel, Y Combinator and angel investors
Company profile
Date started: 2015
Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki
Based: Dubai
Sector: Online grocery delivery
Staff: 200
Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends
