Israeli justices press government on religious conscription waivers

The ultra-Orthodox make up 13 percent of Israel’s population, and some claim their pious lifestyles would clash with military mores. Above, police break up ultra-Orthodox protesters in Jerusalem on April 11, 2024. (AFP)
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Updated 02 June 2024
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Israeli justices press government on religious conscription waivers

  • The Supreme Court in 2018 voided a law waiving the call-up for ultra-Orthodox men who want to study in seminaries instead
  • Ultra-Orthodox claim the right to study in seminaries instead of serving in uniform for the standard three years

JERUSALEM: The top Israeli court heard responses by the state on Sunday to challenges against exemptions granted to ultra-Orthodox Jews from military conscription, a long-standing source of friction with more secular citizens now inflamed by the long Gaza war.
In the name of equality, the Supreme Court in 2018 voided a law waiving the call-up for ultra-Orthodox men who want to study in seminaries instead. Parliament failed to come up with an alternative arrangement, and a government-ordered stay on a mandatory mobilization of ultra-Orthodox expired in March.
That has left Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu scrambling to agree with ultra-Orthodox coalition partners on a military service compromise that might preempt any Supreme Court ruling that Israel’s fasted-growing minority must be forcibly drafted.
“We’re not on quiet waters. We are at war, and the need (for military personnel) cries out,” one of nine justices hearing the case, Noam Solberg, told a government lawyer who argued that it was still too early for an ultra-Orthodox mass-conscription.
With fighting against Palestinian Hamas militants in Gaza and related violence on the Lebanese border exacting the highest troop casualties in decades, many Israelis resent their fellow citizens being spared their share of the risk.
The ultra-Orthodox claim the right to study in seminaries instead of serving in uniform for the standard three years. Some say their pious lifestyles would clash with military mores, while others voice ideological opposition to the liberal state.
The ultra-Orthodox make up 13 percent of Israel’s population, a figure expected to reach 19 percent by 2035 due to their high birth rates. Economists argue that the draft exemption keeps some of them unnecessarily in seminaries and out of the workforce.
The government’s lawyer, Doron Taubman, said it placed a high priority on increasing ultra-Orthodox enlistment.
“But it is also mindful of the enormous difficulty the community sees in the drafting of seminary students, both due to the cardinal fear of their lifestyle being compromised and the fear of Bible study being compromised,” he told the court.
It was not immediately clear when the court might rule in the case, whose first hearings took place in February.


Netanyahu accuses France, Britain and Canada of ‘emboldening’ Hamas

Updated 23 May 2025
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Netanyahu accuses France, Britain and Canada of ‘emboldening’ Hamas

  • France dismisses Israeli leader's accusations and said there needs to be a lasting peace solution for Israel and and Palestine
  • Israel fears more European countries will officially recognize a Palestinian state

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the leaders of France, Britain and Canada of wanting to help the Palestinian militant group Hamas after they threatened to take “concrete action” if Israel did not stop its latest offensive in Gaza.

The criticism, echoing similar remarks from Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on Thursday, was part of a fightback by the Israeli government against the increasingly heavy international pressure on it over the war in Gaza.

“You’re on the wrong side of humanity and you’re on the wrong side of history,” Netanyahu said.

The Israeli leader, facing an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court over alleged war crimes in Gaza, has regularly criticized European countries as well as global institutions from the United Nations to the International Court of Justice over what he says is their bias against Israel.

But as the flow of images of destruction and hunger in Gaza has continued, fueling protests in countries around the world, Israel has struggled to turn international opinion, which has increasingly shifted against it.

“It’s hard to convince at least some people, definitely on the far left in the US and in some countries in Europe, that what Israel is doing is a war of defense,” said former Israeli diplomat Yaki Dayan.

“But this is how it is perceived in Israel and bridging this gap is sometimes an impossible mission,” he said.

Israeli officials have been particularly concerned about growing calls for other countries in Europe to follow the example of Spain and Ireland in recognizing a Palestinian state as part of a two-state solution to resolve decades of conflict in the region.

Netanyahu argues that a Palestinian state would threaten Israel and he has framed the killing of two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington on Tuesday by a man who allegedly shouted “Free Palestine” as a clear example of that threat.

He said “exactly the same chant” was heard during the attack on Israel by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023.

“They don’t want a Palestinian state. They want to destroy the Jewish state,” he said in a statement on the social media platform X.

“I could never understand how this simple truth evades the leaders of France, Britain, Canada and others,” he said, adding that any moves by Western countries to recognize a Palestinian state would “reward these murderers with the ultimate prize.”

Instead of advancing peace, the three leaders were “emboldening Hamas to continue fighting forever,” he said.

The Israeli leader, whose government depends on far-right support, said Hamas, which issued a statement welcoming the move, had thanked French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Canada’s Mark Carney over what he said was their demand for an immediate end to the war.

The leaders’ statement on Monday did not demand an immediate end to the war, but a halt to Israel’s new military offensive on Gaza and a lifting of its restrictions on humanitarian aid. Israel had prevented aid from entering Gaza since March, before relaxing its blockade this week.

“By issuing their demand – replete with a threat of sanctions against Israel, against Israel, not Hamas – these three leaders effectively said they want Hamas to remain in power,” Netanyahu said.

“And they give them hope to establish a second Palestinian state from which Hamas will again seek to destroy the Jewish state.”

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said France, which like Britain and Canada designates Hamas as a terrorist organization, was “unwaveringly committed to Israel’s security” but he said it was “absurd and slanderous” to accuse supporters of a two-state solution of encouraging antisemitism or Hamas.

French government spokesperson Sophie Primas said France did not accept Netanyahu’s accusations, adding: “We need to de-escalate this rising tension between our two states and work to find lasting peace solutions, for Israel and for Palestine.”

Asked about Netanyahu’s remarks, Britain’s armed forces minister Luke Pollard said London stood with Israel in their right to self-defense. “But that self-defense must be conducted within the bounds of international humanitarian law,” he said.

“At this moment, we stand fast against terrorism, but we also want to make sure that the aid is getting into Gaza,” Pollard told Times Radio.

Israel’s offensive in Gaza was launched in retaliation for the October 7, 2023 attack, which killed some 1,200 people and saw 251 taken as hostage into Gaza. It has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians and devastated the enclave, where wide areas have been reduced to rubble.


Lebanese army to begin disarming Palestinians in Beirut camps in mid-June

Updated 54 min 25 sec ago
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Lebanese army to begin disarming Palestinians in Beirut camps in mid-June

  • The Lebanese and Palestinian sides agreed on starting a plan “to remove weapons from the camps, beginning mid-June,” the source told AFP
  • By longstanding convention, the Lebanese army stays out of the Palestinian camps

BEIRUT: The joint Lebanese-Palestinian committee, which convened on Friday in the presence of Prime Minister Nawaf Salam of Lebanon, agreed to begin implementing the directives outlined in the joint statement issued by the Lebanese-Palestinian summit held on Wednesday in Beirut, in terms of restricting weapons to the hands of the Lebanese state.

A source in Salam’s office told Arab News: “June 16 will mark the beginning of the Lebanese army’s deployment to Palestinian refugee camps in Beirut, namely Shatila, Mar Elias and Burj Al-Barajneh camps, to take control of the Palestinian factions’ weapons.

“This will involve Lebanese army patrols inside these camps, followed by subsequent phases targeting camps in the Bekaa, northern Lebanon and south, particularly Ain Al-Hilweh, the largest, most densely populated and factionally diverse Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon, encompassing factions affiliated or non-affiliated with the liberation organization.

The source said the “implementation date will be communicated to all Palestinian factions, including Hamas,” and that “the factions will convene to agree on the mechanism, and that pressure will be applied to any group that refuses to relinquish its weapons.”

Addressing Hamas’s earlier stance linking the surrender of its weapons to that of Hezbollah, the source said “there is no connection between the two issues. Once the disarmament process begins, neither Hamas nor any other faction will be able to obstruct or impede it.”

The source said that Arab and regional actors are actively supporting Lebanon in facilitating the disarmament process.

Salam welcomed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s decision to “resolve the issue of Palestinian weapons in the camps,” noting the “positive impact of this decision in strengthening Lebanese-Palestinian relations and improving the humanitarian and socio-economic conditions of Palestinian refugees.”

He affirmed Lebanon’s “adherence to its national principles.”

Salam called for “the swift implementation of practical steps through a clear execution mechanism and a defined timeline.”

According to a statement, both sides agreed “to launch a process to hand over weapons based on a set timetable, accompanied by practical steps to enhance the economic and social rights of Palestinian refugees, and to intensify joint meetings and coordination to put in place the necessary arrangements to immediately begin implementing these directives.”

A statement issued after talks between Abbas and Joseph Aoun, Lebanon’s president, reaffirmed “their commitment to the principle that weapons must be exclusively in the hands of the Lebanese state, to end any manifestations that contradict the logic of the Lebanese state, and the importance of respecting Lebanon’s sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity.”

Since the Nakba — the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians through their violent displacement and dispossession of land, and the suppression of their political rights — Lebanon has had 12 Palestinian refugee camps.

According to the Population and Housing Census in the Palestinian Camps and Gatherings in Lebanon, 72.8 percent of Palestinians in the camps face dire living conditions. The rest are Syrians, Lebanese, and other foreigners, the majority of whom are foreign workers.

Abbas, during his visit, reiterated that “the refugee camps are under the sovereignty of the Lebanese state and the Lebanese army, and the presence of weapons in the camps outside the state’s authority weakens Lebanon. Any weapon that is not under the command of the state is weakening Lebanon and endangering the Palestinian cause.”

Hisham Debsi, director of the Tatweer Center for Strategic Studies and Human Development and a Palestinian researcher, characterized the Lebanese-Palestinian joint statement as “a foundational document that functions as a political, ethical, and sovereign framework. Opposition to its declared positions would be tantamount to rejecting the Lebanese government’s oath of office and ministerial declaration.”

Debsi said: “The joint statement has blocked any potential maneuvering by Hamas to retain its weapons, since the declaration provides the Lebanese state with complete Palestinian legitimacy to remove protection from any armed Palestinian individual. Abu Mazen (Abbas) has reinforced this position repeatedly throughout his Beirut meetings.”

In his assessment, “no faction can now challenge both Lebanese and Palestinian authority given this unified stance.”

Debsi highlighted “a fundamental division within Hamas’s Lebanon branch, with one camp advocating transformation into a political party with the other supporting maintaining ties to Iranian-backed groups.”

He added: “Those opposing Hamas disarmament will face political and security consequences, particularly as camp residents seek to restructure their communities beyond armed resistance, which has become obsolete and must evolve into peaceful advocacy.”


Palestinian faction chiefs quit Damascus amid pressure: faction sources

Updated 23 May 2025
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Palestinian faction chiefs quit Damascus amid pressure: faction sources

DAMASCUS: Two Palestinian sources told AFP Friday the leaders of pro-Iran Palestinian factions who were close to former Tehran-backed ruler Bashar Assad have left Syria under pressure from the new authorities.

The factions, which enjoyed considerable freedom of movement under Assad, have also handed over their weapons, one of the sources said, amid US demands that Syria’s new authorities take steps against Iran-backed Palestinian groups based in the country.

A pro-Iran Palestinian factional leader who left after Assad’s December ouster said on condition of anonymity that “most of the Palestinian factional leadership that received support from Tehran has left Damascus,” while another still based there confirmed the development.

“The factions have fully handed over weapons in their headquarters or with their cadres” to the authorities, who also received “lists of names of faction members possessing individual weapons” and demanded that those arms be handed over, the first added.

A third Palestinian source from a small faction in Damascus confirmed the arms handover.

Those who have left include Khaled Jibril, son of Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC) founder Ahmad Jibril, as well as Palestinian Popular Struggle Front secretary-general Khaled Abdel Majid and Fatah Al-Intifada secretary-general Ziad Al-Saghir.

Washington, which considers several Palestinian factions to be “terrorist” organizations, last week announced it was lifting sanctions on Syria after earlier saying Damascus needed to respond to demands including suppressing “terrorism” and preventing “Iran and its proxies from exploiting Syrian territory.”

According to the White House, during a meeting in Saudi Arabia last week, US President Donald Trump gave new Syrian leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa a list of demands that included deporting “Palestinian terrorists.”

The first Palestinian factional leader said the chiefs joined up with groups from Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen that are also part of the Iran-backed “Axis of Resistance” against Israel.

A number of Iran-backed groups fought alongside Assad’s forces after civil war erupted in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.

Sharaa’s Islamist group led the offensive that ousted Assad, a close ally of Iran, in December.

The factions “did not receive any official request from the authorities to leave Syrian territory” but instead faced restrictions and property confiscations, the first Palestinian factional leader said, noting that some factions “were de facto prohibited from operating” or their members were arrested.

The new authorities have seized property from “private homes, offices, vehicles and military training camps in the Damascus countryside and other provinces,” he said.

The Syrian authorities did not immediately provide comment to AFP when asked about the matter.


Hezbollah seeks boost in Lebanon vote as disarmament calls grow

Updated 23 May 2025
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Hezbollah seeks boost in Lebanon vote as disarmament calls grow

  • Iran-backed Lebanese militant group aims to maintain political sway after pounding in war with Israel
  • Reconstruction aid for Lebanon tied to Hezbollah disarmament, foreign minister says

NABATIEH: Amid the rubble left by Israeli bombardment of south Lebanon, campaign posters urge support for Hezbollah in elections on Saturday as the group aims to show it retains political clout despite the pounding it took in last year’s war.
For Hezbollah, the local vote is more important than ever, coinciding with mounting calls for its disarmament and continued Israeli airstrikes, and as many of its Shiite Muslim constituents still suffer the repercussions of the conflict.
Three rounds of voting already held this month have gone well for the Iran-backed group. In the south, many races won’t be contested, handing Hezbollah and its allies early wins.
“We will vote with blood,” said Ali Tabaja, 21, indicating loyalty to Hezbollah. He’ll be voting in the city of Nabatieh rather than his village of Adaisseh because it is destroyed.
“It’s a desert,” he said.
The south’s rubble-strewn landscape reflects the devastating impact of the war, which began when Hezbollah opened fire in support of Hamas at the start in October 2023 of the Gaza conflict and culminated in a major Israeli offensive.
Hezbollah emerged a shadow of its former self, with its leaders and thousands of its fighters killed, its influence over the Lebanese state greatly diminished, and its Lebanese opponents gaining sway.
In a measure of how far the tables have turned, the new government has declared it aims to establish a state monopoly on arms, meaning Hezbollah should disarm — as stipulated by the US-brokered ceasefire with Israel.
Against this backdrop, the election results so far indicate “the war didn’t achieve the objective of downgrading Hezbollah’s popularity in the community,” said Mohanad Hage Ali of the Carnegie Middle East Center, a think tank. “On the contrary, many Shia now feel their fate is tied to Hezbollah’s fate.”
Hezbollah’s arms have long been a source of division in Lebanon, sparking a brief civil conflict in 2008. Critics say Hezbollah has unilaterally dragged Lebanon into hostilities.
Foreign Minister Youssef Raji, a Hezbollah opponent, has said that Lebanon has been told there will be no reconstruction aid from foreign donors until the state establishes a monopoly on arms.
Hezbollah, in turn, has put the onus on the government over reconstruction and accuses it of failing to take steps on that front, despite promises that the government is committed to it.

DISARMAMENT TERMS
Hage Ali said that conditioning reconstruction aid on disarmament was intended to expedite the process, but “it’s difficult to see Hezbollah accepting this.”
Hezbollah says its weapons are now gone from the south, but links any discussion of its remaining arsenal to Israel’s withdrawal from five positions it still holds, and an end to Israeli attacks.
Israel says Hezbollah still has combat infrastructure including rocket launchers in the south, calling this “blatant violations of understandings between Israel and Lebanon.”
A French diplomatic source said reconstruction would not materialize if Israel continues striking and the Lebanese government does not act fast enough on disarmament.
Donors also want Beirut to enact economic reforms.
Hashem Haidar, head of the government’s Council for the South, said the state lacks the funds to rebuild, but cited progress in rubble removal. Lebanon needs $11 billion for reconstruction and recovery, the World Bank estimates.
In Nabatieh, a pile of rubble marks the spot where 71-year-old Khalil Tarhini’s store once stood. It was one of dozens destroyed by Israeli bombardment in Nabatieh’s central market.
He has received no compensation, and sees little point in voting. Expressing a sense of abandonment, he said: “The state did not stand by us.”
The situation was very different in 2006, after a previous Hezbollah-Israel war. Aid flowed from Iran and Gulf Arab states.
Hezbollah says it has aided 400,000 people, paying for rent, furniture and renovations. But the funds at its disposal appear well short of 2006, recipients say.
Hezbollah says state authorities have obstructed funds arriving from Iran, though Tehran is also more financially strapped than two decades ago due to tougher US sanctions and the reimposition of a “maximum pressure” policy by Washington.
As for Gulf states, their spending on Lebanon dried up as Hezbollah became embroiled in regional conflicts and they declared it a terrorist group in 2016. Saudi Arabia has echoed the Lebanese government’s position of calling for a state monopoly of arms.
Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said it was up to the government to secure reconstruction funding and that it was failing to take “serious steps” to get the process on track.
He warned that the issue risked deepening divisions in Lebanon if unaddressed. “How can one part of the nation be stable while another is in pain?” he said, referring to Shiites in the south and other areas, including Beirut’s Hezbollah-dominated southern suburbs, hard hit by Israel.


At least 60 people killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza as Israel lets minimal aid in

Updated 23 May 2025
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At least 60 people killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza as Israel lets minimal aid in

  • Israel is facing mounting international criticism for its latest offensive and pressure to let aid into Gaza
  • Even the US, a staunch ally, has voiced concerns over the hunger crisis

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: At least 60 people were killed by Israeli strikes across Gaza in a 24-hour period, Gaza’s health ministry said Friday, as Israel pressed ahead with its military offensive and let in minimal aid to the strip.

The dead included 10 people in the southern city of Khan Younis, four in the central town of Deir Al-Balah and nine in the Jabaliya refugee camp in the north, according to the Nasser, Al-Aqsa and Al-Ahli hospitals where the bodies were brought.

Israel is facing mounting international criticism for its latest offensive and pressure to let aid into Gaza amid a catastrophic humanitarian crisis. The strip has been under an Israeli blockade for nearly three months, according to the United Nations. Experts have warned that many of Gaza’s 2 million residents are at high risk of famine.

Even the US, a staunch ally, has voiced concerns over the hunger crisis.

The strikes that lasted into Friday morning came a day after Israeli tanks and drones attacked a hospital in northern Gaza, igniting fires and causing extensive damage, Palestinian hospital officials said on Thursday. Videos taken by a health official at Al-Awda Hospital show walls blown away and thick black smoke billowing wreckage.

Israel said it will continue to strike Hamas until all of the 58 Israeli hostages are released — fewer than half of whom are believed to be alive, according to Israel — and until Hamas disarms.

Suspect charged with murder over deaths of Israeli Embassy staffers in Washington

The strikes come a day after two Israeli Embassy staffers were shot while leaving a reception for young diplomats at the Capital Jewish Museum, in Washington, DC. The suspect told police he “did it for Palestine,” according to court documents filed Thursday as he was charged with murder. He didn’t enter a plea.

On Thursday night, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the killings in Washington horrific and blasted France, the UK and Canada for proposing to establish a Palestinian state.

“Because by issuing their demand, replete with a threat of sanctions against Israel — against Israel, not Hamas — these three leaders effectively said they want Hamas to remain in power,” he said.

Earlier this week the three leaders issued one of the most significant criticisms by close allies of Israel’s handling of the war in Gaza and its actions in the West Bank, threatening to take “concrete actions” if the government did not cease its renewed military offensive and significantly lift restrictions on humanitarian aid.

Aid starts entering, but agencies say nothing like enough

Amid pressure, Israel started letting in aid. Israeli officials said Friday they let in more than 100 trucks of aid, including flour, food, medical equipment and drugs. The trucks came in through the Kerem Shalom crossing.

But UN agencies say the amount is woefully insufficient, compared with around 600 trucks a day that entered during a recent ceasefire and that are necessary to meet basic needs. UN agencies say Israeli military restrictions and the breakdown of law and order in Gaza make it difficult to retrieve and distribute the aid. As a result, little of it has so far reached those in need.

The World Food Program said on Friday said that 15 of its trucks were looted Thursday night in southern Gaza while going to WFP-supported bakeries.

It said that hunger and desperation about whether food was coming in is contributing to rising insecurity, and called on Israel to allow greater volumes of food to enter, faster and more efficiently.

Israel says the aid now is to bridge the gap until a US backed initiative starts soon. A group known as the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation will take over aid distribution in Gaza, and armed private contractors would guard the distribution. Israel says the system is needed because Hamas siphons off significant amounts of aid. The UN denies that claim.

On Friday a Geneva-based advocacy group said it was taking legal action to urge Swiss authorities to monitor the foundation.

TRIAL International, which focuses on international justice, said it made legal submissions to make sure that the privately-run foundation, which is listed in the Geneva commercial registry, abides by Swiss law, notably on the activities of private security groups.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation didn’t immediately respond to request for comment.

No movement on ceasefire negotiations in Doha

Earlier this week, Netanyahu said he was recalling his high-level negotiating team from the Qatari capital, Doha, after a week of ceasefire talks failed to bring results. A working team will remain.

Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said a “fundamental gap” remained between the two parties and that none of the proposals was able to bridge their differences.

Hamas said no real ceasefire talks have taken place since last week in Doha. The group accused Netanyahu of “falsely portraying participation” and attempting to “mislead global public opinion” by keeping Israel’s delegation there without engaging in serious negotiations.

The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251 others. The militants are still holding 58 captives, around a third of whom are believed to be alive, after most of the rest were returned in ceasefire agreements or other deals.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive, which has destroyed large swaths of Gaza, has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count.