Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fox sent a letter to the Prime Minister's Legal Counsel last night (Thursday) in which he harshly attacked the activities of Attorney General Gali Baharav Mayara - this following a letter she sent to the Prime Minister, in which she demanded increased enforcement, arrests, and sanctions against yeshiva students.
Fox wrote: "The ongoing attempt by the legal counsel to the government to replace the government, the prime minister, the defense minister, the chief of staff, and the head of the IDF in all matters concerning the ways to recruit yeshiva students into the IDF or the definition of the 'security needs of the state' will not succeed.".
""The security echelon headed by the Prime Minister, who holds authority and responsibility, knows infinitely well from the legal advice to the government the national security needs of the country in the midst of the War of Rebirth, and there is no better evidence of this than the Prime Minister's political-security navigation, which led to a change in the face of the Middle East, to unprecedented operational achievements on seven fronts, and to the return of all the kidnapped alive (and with God's help, all the kidnapped dead will also be returned).".
Fox added and wrote: "The entire concept of the legal advice to the government in the two years that have passed since the law expired, that the way to recruit Haredim into the IDF is by force, through court rulings and arrests of yeshiva students, has failed colossally.".
""According to the data we have, the confrontation with the ultra-Orthodox public, led by you with open eyes (setting arrest targets that are primarily aimed at yeshiva students and not at draft dodgers from the general public), led to a decrease in the rate of those enlisting in the designated ultra-Orthodox tracks (including the Hasmonean Brigade), and as you noted in your letter, the vast majority of yeshiva students who received orders did not report.".
Fox even provided evidence for his claims: "In contrast, in the past year there has been an increase of about a thousand additional recruits from the general Haredi public compared to the average in previous years, who approached the IDF on their own initiative out of a desire to lend a shoulder to the war effort and enlisted. (The data you stated in your letter from July was incorrect.).
""The government's position, supported by the defense establishment, is that the legislative process of the Defense Service Law (Amendment No. 26) in second and third reading (hereinafter: "Amendment 26"), which was promoted in areas of agreement with the leadership of the Haredi public, must be completed as soon as possible, and that this is the only way to achieve a steady increase in recruitment to the IDF from among the Haredi public in accordance with the goals set in the law, in the face of various incentives, sanctions and restrictions included in the law.".
The government secretary noted that the government was represented separately in the petitions on the subject of conscription: "As you well know, due to these fundamental differences of opinion between the advisory body (the Legal Counsel to the Government) and the decision-making body (the government), the government was represented separately in the petitions to the High Court regarding the expiration of Chapter 3(1) of the law, and it was already explicitly stated in the ruling that the authority for all enforcement matters lies with the IDF authorities.".
""During these two years, the government focused on attempting to complete Amendment 26, which, as stated, will lead to an increase in the rate of conscription among the ultra-Orthodox public, and this in the midst of war, under difficult conditions, in the face of opposing legal advice that mainly dealt with attempts to torpedo the bill from the day it was applied the law of continuity until today.".
""In fact, the government has not yet submitted a position and does not intend to submit a position on the application petitions to the High Court that deal with enforcing the recruitment of Haredim, because the authority and responsibility for enforcement lies with the IDF authorities (and not with the Legal Counsel to the Government), which also responds to the petitions.".
He emphasized: "It is proposed that the legal advice to the government cease to withdraw the government's and the IDF authorities' limits on this issue of recruiting Haredim through coercive means that achieve nothing, and instead defend the government's position regarding Amendment 26, which will increase the military's SDAK by ten thousand Haredi soldiers within two years, while regulating the status of Torah scholars whose Torah is their art.".
""The IDF needs soldiers on the battlefield, not soldiers in military prisons. In conclusion, your various requests to the government to intervene in the considerations of the military authorities in everything related to enforcing IDF conscription on yeshiva students are rejected.".
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