The proposed reform that would penalize hareidim and hareidi yeshivas for non-enlistment to the IDF must also include Arab citizens of Israel, Public Security Minister Yitzchak Aharonovich of Yisrael Beytenu said Tuesday. Otherwise, he added, his party will oppose the reform.
"All must shoulder the burden equally – hareidim, Arabs and whoever carries an Israeli ID," the minister told the Plesner Committee, which is tasked with formulating the reform, on Tuesday.
Every citizen of Israel must do military, national or civilian national service, he explained. "The main thing is to serve. The service will be in accordance with the needs of the populaces. For the Ministry of Public Security, this is an excellent chance to receive manpower that can contribute to the organizations [under the ministry's purview]."
Besides being enlisted to the police, Prisons Service, etc., there is also an option for civilian service, he added. "There are many projects that help lower the level of violence and give a feeling of security to the citizen. In my ministry, everyone serves – all religions. We will find a solution for everyone. We can take in thousands of enlistees to all of the bodies."
Aharonovich insisted he "can say with confidence that the Arabs want to serve."
"Absorbing them is the right thing to do," he insisted, "both from the viewpoint of employment and for the society in which they live. Those who oppose enlistment are some of the mayors and the [Arab] Knesset members who come out against it."
"Compromises in the Plesner Committee like non-enlistment of Arabs will cause Yisrael Beytenu to vote against its recommendations," he emphasized.