As the Israeli government remains gridlocked on addressing equitable military conscription, a group of three Likud lawmakers is taking the initiative. According to a report by Amichai Yarchi in Makor Rishon, MKs Dan Illouz, Moshe Saada and Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli are drafting their own proposal for a new IDF draft law.
Rather than mandating enlistment for Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) Jews, the MKs’ outline aims to incentivize service through a carrot-and-stick approach. It would revoke various benefits from Israelis who evade both military and civilian national service obligations. Conversely, it would provide lifelong rewards and advantages for those who do enlist and serve.
With fighting persisting in Gaza and the north, leading to extended reserve call-ups and some reservists now serving their second stint in under a year, the lack of progress on equitable conscription has created a policy vacuum. Illouz, Saada and Chikli now seek to fill it.
The trio has worked closely together in recent months, pushing back against proposed extensions of annual reserve duty periods and other moves by senior Likud figures.
Within two weeks, they plan to submit their outline featuring lifelong tax benefits, employment priorities in the civil service, and potential ineligibility for affordable government housing projects and subsidized higher education for non-servers.
While media focus has been on the Haredi community, in reality, around half of Israelis currently don’t serve – including the ultra-Orthodox, most Israeli-Arabs and 10% of the general non-Haredi public.
The trio have consulted with Haredi party leaders who expressed openness to this incentives-based model, as it specifically excludes forced enlistment quotas, which has been their main opposition to previous legislation attempts.
There has been a shift in some Haredi communities where more young men are enlisting and it is no longer the universal anathema it once was.
The alliance has piqued interest from other Likud members seeking to join to gain media visibility, as well as drawing scrutiny from Prime Minister Netanyahu, who spoke with the group to ensure their legislative efforts were not designed to undermine the current government.
