Equality, orthodoxy and politics: the conflict over national service in Israel

Abstract

National service was a controversial issue in Israel in the early years of the state. A law requiring religious girls exempted from the military to do two years of mandatory civic service was passed in August 1953 and never implemented. This article examines the political controversy surrounding the adoption of the national service law and concludes that David Ben-Gurion advanced the law mainly for political reasons in order to counterbalance concessions made to the orthodox. Moreover, consistent with his mamlachtiyut (statist) philosophy, he was unwilling to consider any compromise proposals other than a mandatory government-run programme. Pressure from the religious parties caused his successor, Moshe Sharett, to concede on the implementation details, voiding the law of content. Subsequent governments acceded to orthodox demands to freeze the law. In 1971, a more pragmatic Labour government headed by Golda Meir instituted a programme of voluntary national service which provided needed manpower to the development towns and fulfilled the wish of girls from the religious Zionist sector to give service to the nation.