The Israeli Knesset approved a controversial bill last week cracking down on efforts to prevent Palestinian Christians from joining the Israeli army, Israeli media reported on Sunday.
The Constitution, Law and Justice Committee voted in favor of the bill, which criminalizes efforts to stop Christian enlistment in the army, by mandating prison terms for anyone who dissuades Christian Palestinians from volunteering for Israeli military service, or convinces them to leave once they’ve joined.
The circumstances under which the bill were passed also drew criticism and controversy, as the meeting to vote was held by only Jewish Knesset members during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, despite the request of Palestinian Knesset members from the Joint List to postpone the vote so that they could be present.
Reut Mor, the spokeswoman for the Joint List which brings together representatives of the Palestinian community in Israel, told Ma'an that there was a "general promise" in place that any votes on "sensitive issues" pertaining to Arab minorities would be suspended until after the holiday.
According to Mor, though the committee postponed the final vote on the controversial NGO bill until Monday as per the alleged agreement, the committee proceeded without the members of the Joint List and debated the bill regarding Christians in the military, voting on second and third readings.
Members of the Joint List slammed the law -- which was sponsored by an Israeli Knesset member of the right-wing Likud party -- saying it would not only infringe on freedom of expression, but would be used to suppress the ongoing debate in Palestinian society in Israel on whether Christians should join the military.
The current law regarding the subject speaks only about the topic of Jewish “deserters,” and mandates three to 15 years in prison for anyone who persuades someone to leave during compulsory military service -- which applies to Jewish Israelis but not Christians -- or for anyone who aids a deserter or gives him shelter.
Justice Ministry officials at the meeting reportedly said there was no need for the new bill expanding to Palestinian Christians, as the existing legislation regarding Jewish conscripts could be applied to volunteers.
According to Israel newspaper Haaretz, MK Usama Saadi of the Joint List called the passing of the bill “suspicious and inappropriate,” adding that the members of the Joint List plan to vote against the bill in the full Knesset.
Saadi also expressed concern with the vague language in the bill, such as the use of the term “incitement to evasion,” which aside from violence and threats against young Christians who want to join the army -- which he said the Joint List objects to -- could also be expanded to include any criticism or verbal attempts at persuading someone not to join the army.
Citing the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ), the Jerusalem Post reported on the upwards trend of Christian enlistment in the Israeli army.
According to the IFCJ, the number of Christians drafted into the army steadily increased from 40 recruits in 2012 to more than 100 in 2014, and 102 Palestinian Christians in March 2015 alone were inducted into the army.
The Israeli army is no stranger to non-Jewish soldiers, and often boasts a sizeable population of Bedouin Muslim volunteers and Druze men, who are subject to mandatory conscription into the Israeli army as part of a 1949 agreement between the Arabic-speaking Druze community and the Israeli government.
A sticking point in the debate among Palestinian Christians on the morality of joining the Israeli army, is the fact that Israeli forces rarely make a religious distinction when enforcing deadly tactics and punitive action upon Palestinian citizens in Israel, Gaza, and the occupied West Bank.
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), a total of 169 Palestinians, Muslim and Christian, were killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the year of 2015, and approximately 64 Palestinians have been killed from the start of 2016 until April.
