27 y.o. Female Refusenik in Israeli Jai

BS"D

6 Teves, 5780  °°  Jan. 3, '20

Parshas Vayigash

27-year-old Female Refusenik Languishing in Israeli Military Jail

An Update on the Crisis of Female Military Conscription in Israel

By Binyomin Feinberg

feinbergbinyomin@gmail.com

1.  URGENT ALERT: Ora bas Aliza, a national-religious woman of Ashdod - now 27 years old - is presently languishing in Israeli Military Jail Four, according to late word we received this morning, right before Shabbos in Israel.

2.  Reportedly, after civil police recently stopped her, Ora was transferred to and incarcerated by Military Police - over a slight delay in submitting her Religiosity- certification ("Tatzhir Dat") -- an astounding TEN YEARS ago!

3.  The "Tatzhir Dat" is the standard "religiosity"-certification document required by the Army to exempt a girl from military service on religious grounds. It used to be unheard of for any religious girl to be arrested for simply being late in sending in her documentation. But recently, numerous innocent religious girls have been languishing in military prison, often under brutal conditions, with the reason/ pretext that the Army didn't receive their religiosity certification on time. In actuality, there are probably many more such girls than we know of. Some of those may have ultimately succumbed to pressure, and enlisted in the Army. Escalating the conscription of religious girls is the apparent goal of this harsh treatment of non-violent, religious girls.

4.  Historically, any girl who was even slightly Torah-observant generally obtained an exemption from the military draft. However, in recent years, that's changed dramatically. For example, in the Summer of 2013, the Israeli government issued an official policy change, seeking to increase enlistment specifically of religious girls. Since then, things have been getting increasingly worse for religious girls, especially over the past two years. In some cases, the brutality towards innocent religious girls - simply seeking to remain faithful to their religion - employed by the military police, prison personnel - and the legal system itself - has been downright shocking. This was well illustrated in some famous cases, such as Yuval bas Tamar, Orah and Moriah R. (bnos Beruriah), Rinas bas Chedva, and Lidar Shira L. (bas Yaffa).

5.  In our Jewish Press Dispatch columns since February, and in our online posts, we've been documenting specific, confirmed cases of girls (mostly religious) either incarcerated or under threat thereof, for their steadfast refusal to serve in the military. This is a systemic problem, and, as such,  will only be alleviated by proper public exposure.

6.  We've also been identifying multiple cases of human rights abuses of incarcerated girls, including denial of medical care (e.g. Yuval bas Tamar (2018); Miriam N. (about a month ago in Military Prison Six)), denial of religious rights, such as kosher food and modest clothing; and denial of communication. This is all in addition to the pattern of denial of their religious rights via systematically denying their religious exemptions, in a panoply of underhanded, even illegal ways. In this particular case, it isn't clear yet to us that Ora's rights to a religious exemption are being (tentatively) denied, because of an apparent news "brownout" on the part of some of those dealing with her case. But what is clear is that she is being subjected to totally unwarranted harassment, of a persecutory nature.

7.  The experience of young women in Israeli military prisons generally ranges from extremely difficult to the horrific. One girl we reported on recently, Shir, even attempted to take her own life in Military Prison Four last month. (Suicide within the Army is a blight unto itself.)

8.  Moreover, in addition to all of the other suffering they endure in jail, every hour a girl is in prison poses a substantial risk that she could be pressured or terrorized into submitting to enlisting in the Army. On that basis alone, we are obligated to employ all legitimate means to obtain their immediate freedom. This is truly a cause of pidyon shevuyim, and should be treated accordingly.

9.  What generally makes the most impact in gaining the release of these girls is intelligently disseminating quality information. That type of "pirsum" escalates pressure on the Israeli government to free those girls. The Israeli government is more concerned about their public image in America than about what their own citizens say.  So it's important for readers to thoughtfully consider how to intelligently disseminate this information as widely and expeditiously as practical, particularly via social media.

10. Another way to have a real and lasting impact is to help organize a women's demonstration against the Israeli military abuse of women and girls. What goes on in the Israeli Army is the most widespread governmental assault against the purity, morality, rights, and wellbeing of Jewish women and girls in recent history, perhaps dating back to wartime Europe. The unrelenting mistreatment of girls seeking to avoid conscription into the promiscuous military environment is just part of that broader systemic abuse. Even a relatively modest demonstration of ladies in front of an Israeli office or forum would raise awareness immensely, and thereby help deter such abuses, going forward.  The signage is crucial. It should call attention to the fact that no one has a right to treat Jewish or non-Jewish girls as they're treated in and by the Israeli Army - which has actually developed a term reflective of their true view of the role of girls and women in the Army: "Miz'ron Tzahali." 

11.  On this issue, women have more of an ability to help break through the wall of silence than men do. Thus, their obligation reflects that tactical advantage. All readers would be well-advised to see the very strong letter written by HaGaon Rav Meshulum Dovid Soloveichick Shlit"a addressing the need to raise international awareness about these burning issues.

12.  Realistic Goals:  If we cannot reasonable expect to end the conscription of women, we certainly can contain it. And the recent escalation of Israeli military recruitment assaults against girls seeking to secure their exemptions should compel us to become far more vigilant in seeking creative ways to get our message out.

13.  For some timely insights, please also review our article on the upcoming fast-day of Asara BeTeves:

"Tenth of Teves: A Day of  Reckoning"

https://daattorah.blogspot.com/2020/01/tenth-of-teves-day-of-reckoning.html

http://firstamendmentactivist.blogspot.com/2020/01/a-day-of-reckoning.html

~~~

14.  For an update of this week's coverage of the ongoing crisis of Israeli military conscription of women and girls, see the weekly email newsletter of the Coalition for Jewish Values (Parshas Vayigash), issued yesterday (Thu., Jan 2), in the Israel section, in which they linked to three related posts:

° IDF Drops Rosh Yeshiva For Opposing Female Combat Roles

° Protesting Anti-Religious Persecution in Israel today:

https://daattorah.blogspot.com/2020/01/protesting-antireligious-persecution-by.html

°  We Need to Ensure that No Girl  Be Drafted into the Israeli Military:

https://daattorah.blogspot.com/2020/01/drafting-non-religious-girls-vs-kiruv.html