Israeli opposition leader calls to deny voting rights to ultra-Orthodox Jews who don’t serve

Lapid proposes singling out the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community by barring those who do not serve in the army of the right to vote and receive state funding.

By World Israel News Staff

Israel’s opposition leader called Monday for ultra-Orthodox Jews who do not serve in the Israeli military to lose the right to vote and to deny them access to state funds.

As the Netanyahu government continues its efforts to pass a new draft law, reinstating the annual draft deferments offered to full-time yeshiva students, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid blasted the proposed draft law and proposed an alternative solution to the ongoing draft law crisis.

Addressing members of his Yesh Atid party at a faction meeting, Lapid called for legislation that would bar Israeli Jews who do not serve in the IDF from voting in elections or receiving any state funds.

“I say…to the ultra-Orthodox: If this thing gets passed, then in the next government, there will be a simple law. Anyone who doesn’t go to the army induction office, doesn’t go to the ballot box.”

“Whoever doesn’t enlist, doesn’t vote. Anyone who doesn’t serve, doesn’t get a single shekel from the state. What has been until now will not be any longer.”

Lapid claimed that the proposal was not intended as a punitive step, calling it an “invitation” to ultra-Orthodox Jews to integrate into Israeli society.

“We’ll tell the ultra-Orthodox: This isn’t against you, and it’s not a punishment.

“On the contrary, it’s an invitation to be part of the Israeli story, of our shared destiny, of a country where everyone has the same obligations – otherwise, they can’t have the same rights.”

The former prime minister pointed to a bill proposed by the Yisrael Beytenu party in March which was rejected by the Knesset, suggesting he would push for similar legislation.

“We will bring that bill back without batting an eye,” Lapid said.

The bill proposed by Yisrael Beytenu this March would have nullified voting rights for citizens who fail to enlist after receiving draft orders.

While Yisrael Beytenu party chairman Avigdor Liberman defended the bill on X in March, claiming it would apply equally to all draft refusers regardless of ethnicity, in practice, the law would have little impact on most of Israel’s Arab community.

Muslim and Christian Arabs do not receive draft notices from the Defense Ministry, even though there is no formal exemption.

The entire Jewish population – including men and women – along with Druze and Circassian men – are included on the IDF’s draft rolls, though Orthodox Jewish women are granted service exemptions, with full-time yeshiva students able to apply for annual draft deferments.

This arrangement places ultra-Orthodox Jewish men and Israeli Arabs who do not serve in the IDF in separate legal categories, leaving only the former liable for the loss of voting rights under the Yisrael Beytenu proposal.

Lapid’s comments Monday received criticism from both the Israeli Left and Right.

In an opinion piece published in the far-left Ha’aretz newspaper, Hebrew University Professor Emeritus of Law Mordechai Kremnitzer derided Lapid’s plan as an “empty proposal.

“When you look at him you rub your eyes — you cannot believe what you see.”

Kremnitzer added that while the law was clearly aimed at ultra-Orthodox Jews, the precedent could be used later to strip Arab Israelis of the right to vote.

MK Boaz Bismuth, a Likud lawmaker who chairs the Knesset’s powerful Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, said the proposal shows “once again,” that Lapid “doesn’t understand security or democracy.”