Q&A: Should We Enter a War from Which We Can Mainly Lose
Should We Enter a War from Which We Can Mainly Lose
Question
If the state enters into a direct confrontation with the Haredim, in any case it will hardly cause anyone to enlist. It may even cause people who had been thinking of enlisting to change their minds.
So let’s say the state throws them all into prison for long periods…
And regarding the money, let’s say it strips them of all funding. On the face of it, the state will save money, but then the Haredim will respond with harassment of the state that will cost all of us much more, and then in the end the state will lose even what it saved.
The army of course will not grow, and the burden will continue to fall on those who do enlist…
Worst of all—there will be bad blood between different parts of the people.
So what will we gain from all this, bottom line?
On the other hand, it is possible to compromise on a framework that will lead to non-negligible numbers of Haredim being drafted. Not all of them, not even most. But even with those we do draft, the IDF will necessarily grow, and at least we will reach a compromise within the nation and there will be a good spirit among the people, after the overwhelming majority on all sides agrees to the compromise.
So why the headache?
Answer
First, in any case the percentage of those who are preparing to enlist is very small, so there is no significant loss here. Second, in my opinion the result of the struggle will definitely be broad enlistment, if the struggle is indeed conducted properly. There is no need to put anyone in prison, only to deny them rights and budgets. Bad blood between parts of the people already prevails now. Let the Haredim deal with that, because they are to blame for it. I am against compromises because the Haredim are constantly deceiving, and no enlistment will come of it. And also because one must not surrender to terror. And finally, in my opinion a determined struggle definitely will bring about enlistment, and only that will bring it about.
Discussion on Answer
Do to the Haredim what should happen to every hostile anti-Zionist population like jihadists: revoke their citizenship and deport them from the country.
You know the Haredim extremely well, but I know them pretty well too.
Most Haredim/Hasidim from all factions are very assertive, including the younger generation. They hold firmly to the view that “Torah study comes before everything else” (even if some of them exploit that in unfair ways).
Even the flexible/confused segment, the one you really can try to influence to enlist, will in the end do what the rabbis tell them, or else just give in to the social pressure from their surroundings.
It doesn’t matter what force the state uses, including the harshest economic sanctions imposed by an anti-Haredi government, which at the moment does not even seem to be on the horizon. (Which, as stated, will be answered with a Haredi reaction that all of us will suffer from.)
That is if, God forbid, it becomes a head-on clash. And that would be a shame. It is a commandment to seek compromise.
And as mentioned, it seems the current government is pushing very hard to fulfill that commandment.
But even if a clearly anti-Haredi government does arise, it’s a shame I can’t make a bet with you.
I’d win a good meal.