"Resume Civil Service for Hareidim before the elections"

Since the expiration of the Tal Law on the 1st August - civil service for Hareidim has also been at a standstill. Civil Service recruitment which was done regularly every month - stopped entirely, but on the other hand, the release of Hareidim who have completed their service - continued as usual, so that the number of Haredi volunteers goes down each month.

In the weeks that have passed since the expiration of the law, attempts were made to reach a compromise and the formulation of a new law that will regulate the issue of burden sharing and service of Haredim in the army and civil service, but it has not yet succeeded. Bringing the elections earlier could lead to another freeze of the track for many more months - until after the elections.

In the meantime, every day complaints from Yeshiva students who are interested in joining the civil service, as well as appeals of yeshiva students who volunteer in the service - interested regarding the future of the service, arrive at the management offices.

Today there are 1824 Hareidim who volunteers in various fields: health, welfare, emergency and security, immigrant absorption and more. The number of haredi volunteers gradually increased over the years and reached an all-time peak last July when more than 200 Hareidim joined the service.

Since the repeal of the law to this day 255 volunteers completed their service, and hundreds more are expected to end the service in the coming months. The current situation causes serious damage to the course and among the entities that operate the volunteers, indicating a severe shortage of manpower and subsequent cutting down on operations.

As a result, the Director of Civil - National Service Management – Sar Shalom Jerbi, sent an urgent letter to the Minister of Science and Technology and Head of the Civil – National Service, Daniel Hershkowitz, with a request to act to regulate the situation with a temporary order.

In his letter, Minister Jerbi notes: "The continued freeze of the course of civil service for Haredim until after the elections and the establishment of a new government will bring harsh effects and may cause permanent damage to the civil service of haredim. The current situation may impair the substantial achievements attained in the Haredi sector, both in the existing awareness and in relation to the service in the Haredi sector, as well as volunteer numbers and understandings which we reached with the Haredi leadership. "

"Thus," continues Jerbi, "I appeal to you that you make use of your authority and call upon ministers concerned to reach a solution, so we can resume before the election, at least on a temporary legal basis, the Civil Service for Haredim, even before we find a comprehensive solution to the expiration of the 'Tal Law 'and the problem of equality of burden. "

Minister Daniel Hershkowitz responded to the letter, and says: "The course of civil service is an important course to enable young Hareidim to share the burden in society and contribute to the community and the State of Israel. This is a vital issue for all of us and a national mission. As soon as the Tal Law was canceled, I acted in collaboration with the Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Justice – so that we regulated in a temporary order that whoever started the service before the expiration of the law still remains in service with all the benefits and rights.

"We are currently working to formulate a government decision to offer direct institutionalization of the recruitment to the course and will regulate the continued existence of the orthodox civil service system, until a law will be passed concerning this."

'בחדרי' גם ברשתות החברתיות - הצטרפו!