Minister Uzi Landau: Yisrael Beytenu will not Stop until We’ve Legislated Equal Service for All
Published on: July 5, 2012Minister Uzi Landau attacked the Plesner Committee and said: “The refusal of the Plesner team to tackle the issue of Arabs sharing the national duty to serve and its passing of this responsibility to yet another committee has yielded a new principle in Israeli democracy – ‘unequal equality.’
“It is surprising that the non-service of the Ultra-Orthodox is an obvious issue in need of reform. They compose about 8% of those who do not serve. However, the issue of service among the Arab sector is considered by many as an ‘off-limits’ topic – even though Israeli-Arabs make up about 50% of those who do not serve. It should be noted that the number of secular Jews who refuse to serve in the IDF is higher than the number of Ultra-Orthodox who refuse to serve in the IDF. We all should learn these numbers.
Yisrael Beytenu will oppose any proposal that offers only partial solutions and dilutions of the principle that everyone must share in the national duty to serve. That is precisely what Plesner and his friends tried to do in the committee, most of whose members have left and which has lost its validity.”
Minister Landau also said, “Yisrael Beytenu’s position has been principled and consistent throughout this Knesset. In the last election we had a clear message: ‘No allegiance, no citizenship.’ Our bill at the beginning of this Knesset said a simple thing: Every Israeli citizen upon reaching the age of 18 must serve his/her country – either in military or civilian service. We will do our utmost to make this become law. We have here a historic opportunity, and we must not miss it. The broad coalition, which represents an overwhelming majority of the public has the ability to give the electorate real solutions to real problems. Ben Gurion coined the term the “People’s Army,” which reflects the Israeli melting pot. This is an opportunity for the Knesset to bring Israel’s citizens back to the “People’s Army.’ “