Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz said, Monday morning, "Every Jewish boywho reaches the age of18mustserve in the armyandcontributeto the state ofIsrael,butifyou askwhat isthe vitalandurgentneedofthe state ofIsrael, it's, first of all, the integration of the hareidim into the work force." Speaking at an economic gathering in Tel Aviv, the former chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee continued, "The most justsolution, in my eyes, is servicefor everyonein the Israel Defense Forces,but thecorrect solutionisthe integrationof the hareidim into the modern economy-for themandfor us.Eachplanthat is formulatedmust bereasonable andrational, which contributesto Israel's economyandis notplanwhich is applauded at first and thenit turns outthat its cost did not justify thebenefit."
Steinitz said it was the duty of the state to increase the participation of the hareidim and the Arabs in the labor market, adding, ""The Israeli economy will be hurthardand we won't be able to growat rates of4% or more.We are already seeingthebeginning of the processof integrating them atworkand it must continue because if it doesn't, it will cause serious damage to the Israeli economyandIsraeli citizens."