The equal share of the burden law, which was enacted based on principles of morality and equality, has been given a degrading burial . We must be honest and say, however, that had it been implemented, it would not have led to equality and would not have actually eased the burden on the serving soldiers.

Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter



The enlisting ultra-Orthodox would have received inflated salaries for having families, and their service conditions would have been different from the conditions of soldiers in the regular route. Even today, soldiers belonging to the Hesder Yeshiva arrangement or Nahal Haredi unit serve for shorter periods of time, not to mention the difficulties their service imposes on the army due to their special needs.

Even if the law had been implemented, it would not have led to equality and would not have eased the burden on the serving soldiers (Photo: Reuters)

And taking the medium-sized army vision further, girls and boys will only be drafted for combat roles, combat-supporting roles and defined designated roles. The army of junior clerks will have the honor of doing significant national service which will be equal in time to the military service, and the commanders - excluding the chief of staff - will make their own coffee and summon meetings at the touch of a keyboard.

According to that same hypothetical vision, the haredim and the Arabs will also do coordinated national service, and the equality problem will be solved.

But it's too early to rejoice. It won't happen because in a democratic country it’s hard and even impossible to define "inequality" in a law. There is no equality today either, but since it isn't defined in a law, we know how to live with it. In addition, the moral problem will be waved above the law and will not allow us to turn a blind eye like in the current amorphous situation.

The reality at our doorstep is making Israel face difficult security challenges, and allegedly contradicts the thesis of a small army. But a high-quality army is not necessarily measured by its size. Israel should aspire to become a state with an army, not an army with a state. It's the army's job to train fighters to defend the state, not to serve as an employment bureau or a placement office for people seeking to cross over from yeshiva life to work life.

And like what often happens here, the buried law has an inverse relationship to the Israeli public's attitude towards the IDF and military service. Most of us, if not all of us, are connected to our soldiers through the umbilical cord, and the recently published annual Israeli sympathy survey gives these feelings statistical proof.

At times of war, the people of Israel build towers of solidarity, sanctify the battle ethos, push injustice under the emergency rug, and the embrace, pain and solidarity flow together in one uterus of an anxious and committed country. It's both our weakness and our strength.

Nonetheless, the road to solving the frustration of those carrying the burden appears longer than ever today. As long as the election system doesn’t change and small parties continue to determine the coalition's fate, the moral question at the basis of the unequal military service will remain unsolvable.