There will be a lot of hand-wringing and huffing and puffing but a large majority of Haredi families in Israel will want these changes and many who will have to be forced into earning a living and forced into national service will do it reluctantly but then will like it.
Caroline Glick suggested in a column not so long ago that the effect on Israel of Haredim being drafted will be transformational (in a good way) for Israel, and I quite agree.
In a nutshell:
"As far as religious reform is concerned, one of the sources of
social friction that has weakened Israeli society over the past few
decades is perception shared by most Israelis that the ultra-Orthodox
community is comprised of freeloaders. The fact that most ultra-Orthodox
men do not serve in the IDF, while receiving government handouts to
study in state-funded yeshivot is one source of social friction. Another
source of friction is that while its members do not participate in
either the common burden of national defense or in the economic life of
the country, due to Israel's proportional electoral system, the
ultra-Orthodox minority has managed to maintain control over the state
religious institutions and so dictate the (sour) relationship between
religion and society in Israel."
"Both Bennett and
Lapid ran on platforms of universal male conscription or national
service and ending the ultra-Orthodox community's monopoly on control
over the state rabbinate. A Netanyahu-Lapid-Bennett government could
enact major reforms in the religious establishment that would lead to a
national-religious takeover of the rabbinic courts and the chief
rabbinate of the country. Such a government could also require the
ultra-Orthodox to serve in the IDF, and enable the community's members
to integrate into the economic life of the country.
"All
of these steps would have a salutary, indeed, revolutionary impact on
the religious life of the country. National religious rabbis would do
what the ultra-Orthodox rabbis have failed to do, or stubbornly refused
to do. They would make Judaism part of the life blood of the country in a
way that is relevant to the lives of the vast majority of Israelis and
pave the way for Israel's further emergence as the spiritual center of
world Jewry. The ripple effects of such a reform would extend to nearly
every corner of Israel, and indeed, to nearly every corner of the Jewish
world. "
These are very exciting times for Jews and Israel.
By the way, I highly recommend Tablet magazine.
They always have very thoughtful pieces on Jewish issues and the views express quite a wide continuum of political and religious outlooks. Very nice magazine.
