Decision to Exempt Ultra-Orthodox from Military Service Threatens Netanyahu’s Coalition

An Israeli soldier on a tank near the Lebanese border on April 7 (EPA)
An Israeli soldier on a tank near the Lebanese border on April 7 (EPA)
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Decision to Exempt Ultra-Orthodox from Military Service Threatens Netanyahu’s Coalition

An Israeli soldier on a tank near the Lebanese border on April 7 (EPA)
An Israeli soldier on a tank near the Lebanese border on April 7 (EPA)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intends to implement the terms stipulated by his extremist allies relating to expanding the Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territories and exempting ultra-Orthodox Jews from military service.

Following the developments, protest leaders against the government issued statements calling for the expansion of demonstrations, and officers and reservists threatened to abstain from military service.

Informed political sources said that assessments within the Israeli army showed that passing those provisions would lead to an immediate reaction from the Palestinians, who will respond with a significant escalation rejecting settlements, and reservists who threatened to leave the military service.

Observers are concerned that about half of the pilots and navigators in the air force wouldn’t report for regular service.

Military editor of the Haaretz newspaper Amos Harel warned that it would quickly make the forces incapable of taking part in a war if one were to erupt, considerably eroding the force’s operational capacity.

He indicated that such a phenomenon might also spread to career army personnel.

“The commanders of critical units say that many of their career people have already said they won’t be extending their service and would even intend to quit immediately if the legislation is passed. One can assume there would be similar developments in other branches of the security establishment.”

Harel noted that the assessment in Israel is that a long and turbulent political summer awaits us. This feeling is accompanied by the lingering possibility of a broader military confrontation following the security escalation seen in recent months.

Despite suspending the judicial reform legislation announced by Netanyahu, many forces in the government are still calling for its continuation immediately after the holidays.

Harel warned that the coalition partners have numerous demands, some related to the judicial overhaul legislation, but implementing them is liable to put Netanyahu on a collision course with the outside world.

“All of the bad consequences of the legislation that the protesters warn against remain in place and may even intensify. The Biden administration isn’t concealing its fierce opposition to the change in Israel’s democratic form of government,” he said.

Israeli media discussed army and intelligence leaks about a possible war, saying the leaks were deliberate.

He noted that former Defense Minister Benny Gantz is under pressure to join the government to prevent it from failing.

Harel said that “if there were a major military confrontation, it’s difficult to know whether the two former Israeli chiefs of staff, Gantz and his party colleague Gadi Eisenkot, would constrain themselves from such a call to action."

"It’s hard to replace military DNA that has been cultivated for more than 30 years with more calculated and sober political DNA. When the cannons roar, the generals join government coalitions.”

Netanyahu had agreed to grant a complete exemption from military service to the ultra-religious group and limit the period for reporting their decision to 23 instead of 26, meaning they could go out for work after it.

Faced with the threat of a revolution within the army, Netanyahu proposed doubling the amount of “pocket money” given to the soldiers and converting it into salaries of 6,000 shekels ($1,666) per month, which is higher than the minimum wage.

The protest leaders considered this measure a bribe to the soldiers so that they would be silent about the exemption for the ultra-orthodox, noting that soldiers serving in the army would not accept the money for their sacrifices.



Leader of Student Protests at Columbia Facing Deportation after Arrest by Immigration Officials

Mahmoud Khalil speaks to members of media about the Revolt for Rafah encampment at Columbia University during the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza, in New York City, US, June 1, 2024. (Reuters)
Mahmoud Khalil speaks to members of media about the Revolt for Rafah encampment at Columbia University during the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza, in New York City, US, June 1, 2024. (Reuters)
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Leader of Student Protests at Columbia Facing Deportation after Arrest by Immigration Officials

Mahmoud Khalil speaks to members of media about the Revolt for Rafah encampment at Columbia University during the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza, in New York City, US, June 1, 2024. (Reuters)
Mahmoud Khalil speaks to members of media about the Revolt for Rafah encampment at Columbia University during the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza, in New York City, US, June 1, 2024. (Reuters)

A prominent Palestinian activist who helped lead protests at Columbia University is facing deportation following his arrest by federal immigration agents over the weekend.

Mahmoud Khalil, who graduated from the university in December, was arrested Saturday by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed the arrest, saying it was a result of President Donald Trump’s executive orders prohibiting antisemitism. He has not been formally charged with a crime.

Khalil’s lawyer, Amy Greer, said the agents who took him into custody at his university-owned home near Columbia initially claimed to be acting on a State Department order to revoke his student visa. But when Greer informed them that Khalil was a permanent resident with a green card, they said they would revoke that documentation instead.

Federal immigration authorities also visited a second international student at Columbia over the weekend and attempted to take her into custody but were prevented from entering the apartment, according to a union representing the student. The woman has not been identified, and it’s not clear what grounds ICE had for the visit.

According to the Student Workers of Columbia, a graduate student union representing the woman, three ICE agents visited her university-owned residence Friday night and attempted to enter without a warrant.

“The agents were rightfully turned away at the door,” the student union said.

Over the weekend, the university circulated guidance to students about its policies for allowing federal authorities on campus. The guidance states that “in general, ICE agents must have a judicial warrant or subpoena to access non-public areas,” including housing.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a message posted Sunday on X that the administration will be “revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported.”

Khalil’s arrest is the first publicly known deportation effort under Trump’s promised crackdown on students protesting the war in Gaza.

The Republican president has argued that protesters forfeited their rights to remain in the country by supporting the Palestinian group Hamas that controls Gaza.

Khalil and other student leaders of Columbia University Apartheid Divest have rejected claims of antisemitism, saying they are part of a broader anti-war movement that also counts Jewish students and groups among its members. But the divestment group, at times, has also voiced support for leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah, another organization designated by the US as a terrorist group.

Khalil is currently being held in an immigration detention center in Louisiana after initially being sent to a facility in New Jersey, according to ICE’s online detainee database, which lists his birthplace as Syria.

It’s unclear when he will have a hearing in immigration court, which is typically the first step in the deportation process. Spokespersons for ICE and DHS did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment Monday.

Columbia University declined to comment on Khalil’s arrest over the weekend. University spokespersons did not immediately respond Monday.

A protest was scheduled for later Monday in front of ICE’s offices in Manhattan.

Khalil was one of the most visible activists in last year’s protests, serving as a negotiator for students who erected a tent encampment on campus. Pro-Israel activists in recent weeks have called on the Trump administration to begin deportation proceedings against him.

Khalil was also among those being investigated by a new Columbia office that has already brought disciplinary charges against dozens of students for their pro-Palestinian activism, according to records shared with The Associated Press.

Khalil received a master’s degree from Columbia’s school of international affairs last semester. His wife, who is an American citizen, is eight months pregnant.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration last week pulled $400 million in federal funding from Columbia because of what it claimed was the Ivy League school’s failure to reign in antisemitism on campus.