The parliamentary session in Israel concluded with the approval of a basic law that enshrines the status of Torah study, without taking any actual step for the benefit of soldiers and reserve families who have been bearing the burdens of war for about 3 years, in a scene that an Israeli lawyer considered a harsh message to “the public that serves the state,” that there are priorities that take precedence over them.
In an opinion article published by lawyer Rotem Avidar Tsalik on the Israeli “N12” channel, she saw that the Haredi parties give Israelis a new reason to admire them, “not because of self-esteem or dedication, nor because of solidarity or standing in times of distress, but because of perseverance, discipline, and the ability to set a goal and move toward it with eyes closed, without confusion, hesitation, or stopping until it is achieved.”
She indicated that the political agreement is continuing, with the push of new legislation after the adoption of a “Basic Law: Torah Study,” likening what is happening to a football match run by a coach who has planned many steps in advance, while the players rush on the field without restrictions, “and without arrests as well,” and besiege the opponent from every direction without leaving any loophole.
According to Avidar Tsalik, the primary goal within the Knesset is to achieve a goal through the draft exemption law, and to establish a comprehensive exemption for every young man of military service age who is classified as a “Torah seeker.”
She added that the process did not succeed in the way its supporters wanted, while the operation entered the “90th minute” before the final whistle, which prompted them to use all the remaining tools, take off their gloves and return to the field with two additional reinforcements, namely the nursery law and the abolition of arrests law, which aim to address the problems that the draft exemption law began to produce.
She saw that the efforts were no longer satisfied with these reinforcements, but rather were looking for a “real safety net” that would provide the final blow, which was represented, in her opinion, by the “Basic Law: Study of the Torah,” which aims to provide a broader constitutional foundation for the value of studying the Torah, and thus strengthen the procedures and legislation associated with it.
On the other hand, the writer said that looking at the other side of the stadium does not arouse admiration, but rather reveals deep pain, stressing that she does not write from the stands, but rather lives these facts daily.
She explained that she spent about 3 years inside the Knesset, among the committees, corridors, meetings and discussions, and saw closely how decisions are made and the areas in which political energy is invested.
During the same period, she was the wife of a fighter commander in the reserve forces who served hundreds of days since the beginning of the war, which made her know the price of this service not only through parliamentary debates, but also from inside her home, through the children waiting for their father, the daily challenges, and the reality that thousands of reserve families have been living in for about 3 years.
She said that “the public that serves” has been carrying the state on its shoulders for three years, after its members spent hundreds of days in reserve, while families disintegrated under the weight of the burden, businesses collapsed, children grew up for long months without a father at home, women were forced to manage the home, work, and children on their own, and people lost their friends, their health, and their sources of livelihood.
She added that this audience did not ask for applause or the erection of a statue of him in a public square, but rather he wanted the state to remember those who carried it on his back during its most difficult periods.
However, reaching the final stage of the Knesset session revealed, according to the article, the direction in which all political energy was invested, as it was not directed towards a “Basic Law: Service”, or supporting reserve families, or addressing the imbalances that have accumulated over the past three years, but rather towards more steps aimed at establishing exemption from military service and ensuring its continuation.
Avidar Tsalek saw this as the most painful aspect, considering that it is unacceptable, after everything the Israelis have gone through and what they may go through, and after all the prices that have been paid and are still being paid, for the Knesset to end its session with a message to the serving public that does not say: “We have seen you,” but rather: “There are matters more important than you.”
She wondered what the whistle at the end of the Knesset session should have looked like, considering that what was required was the approval of a “Basic Law: Service,” consecrating service in the Israeli army and security services as a basic value in Israeli society.
She explained that this law should have raised the values of devotion to the state, solidarity, mutual interdependence, and shared responsibility for protecting Israel, and stipulated the state’s commitment to providing a true umbrella of priority and preference for those who serve it, including housing, taxes, employment, education, nurseries, health, and other areas through which the state determines its priorities.
She stressed that these measures should not be presented as privileges, but rather as a national interest for Israel.
She added that the public who serves constitutes the infrastructure on which the state relies security-economically and socially, warning that continuing to exhaust them, burden them with more burdens, and inform them that they will always remain at the back of the line will not make the military alone pay the price, but rather the entire Israeli society.
She believed that strengthening the category that performs the service is not a sectoral policy, but rather a national interest, not only because it is the moral choice, but because it is the smartest step that Israel can take to ensure its future.
In answering the question, “What now?”, she said that the real work begins at this stage, because the state must decide which values it chooses to place at the center, the groups it wants to strengthen, and the foundation on which it seeks to build its future.
She added that a state that does not know how to put at the top of its priorities those who are prepared to risk their lives in defense of it is a state that has lost its compass.
She emphasized that restoring this compass is possible and necessary, not only for the benefit of the public it serves, but for the benefit of all of Israel, because its support does not represent a favor offered to a specific group, but rather a means to ensure the existence of a strong, safe, cohesive, and prosperous state after 20 or 30 years.
She concluded by pointing out that governments and parliaments change, as do laws, calling on Israelis, before putting their papers in the ballot boxes in the upcoming elections, to ask one question: Who actually intends to put the group that performs service at the top of the list of national priorities? Who will not just thank the soldiers in celebrations and speeches, but will turn them into an actual priority for the state?
It concluded that the serving public has been at the front for 3 years, and it is time for Israel to put them at the center of its attention.
It is noteworthy that lawyer Rotem Avidar Tsalik is the general director and founder of the military lobby, and the wife of a soldier in the reserve forces, which gives her article a personal and political dimension at the same time, and reflects the widening rift within Israel regarding the distribution of the burdens of service and who bears the cost of the war.
