The Israeli government is mismanaging public funds and imposing unequal sacrifices on settlers amid its wars across the Middle East, an Israeli journalist and public figure said in an op-ed for Ynet.
Judy Shalom Nir Moses wrote that a two-week visit to "Israel" left her unable to "sleep at night from anger," citing not only the war but what she called "injustice".
In the piece, Moses describes reservists "collapsing financially and mentally" and explained that the broader Israeli public is bearing the weight of "endless war, anxiety, high cost of living and taxes." She then said that the government continues to direct "millions, and some would say billions, of public money into keeping the coalition going."
Moses distinguishes different sectors of Israeli society, arguing that one segment is expected to "sacrifice everything" while another "repeatedly manages to evade the most basic burden in a country that is fighting for its life," referring to the Haredi community in "Israel". She clarifies that her experience with Haredim in New York who integrate into the workforce makes conditions in "Israel" difficult for her to accept.
She further warns that anger over inequality is leading some Israelis to express sentiments she finds shocking, including a statement she attributes to unnamed individuals: "We are starting to understand where anti-Semitism comes from."
Moses concludes that the government cannot "repeatedly ask the same public to sacrifice its children, its money, its lives" while granting exemptions and political concessions to preserve the current ruling coalition.
Haredi exemption sows chaos inside "Israel"
The decades-old exemption of ultra-Orthodox men from mandatory military service has ignited a full-blown political crisis in "Israel", threatening to bring down the government. In May 2026, the two Haredi parties, United Torah Judaism and Shas, began actively pushing to dissolve the Knesset and trigger early elections after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted the coalition lacked the votes to pass a law enshrining their draft exemptions.
On June 1, 2026, lawmakers voted 106-0 in favor of the first reading of a bill to dissolve the legislature, with a potential election date set between September and October 2026.
The crisis has spilled onto the streets. On Monday, hundreds of Haredi protesters blocked the western entrance to al-Quds, clashing violently with border police who deployed "skunk water" cannons.
The protests were triggered by the arrest of draft dodgers and the growing political push to end the community's blanket exemptions, with demonstrators chanting, "We will die and not enlist!" Similar protests have since erupted across several Israeli settlements following police action against conscription evaders.
Compounding the political chaos, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara announced on Monday that tax breaks for donors to Haredi yeshivas whose students evade military service would be terminated, a move following High Court rulings demanding enforcement. Haredi political leaders reacted with fury: Shas leader Aryeh Deri warned of a "tax revolt" and a "deep rift with the state authorities," while Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir demanded the attorney general be fired.
The escalating crisis comes as the IOF faces a severe manpower shortage after more than two years of war. In May 2026, the Israeli military reported a shortfall of approximately 12,000 troops, including 7,000 combat soldiers, with Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir warning that the army could "collapse" without action. While over 79,000 conscription orders have been issued to Haredi men since the Supreme Court's June 2024 ruling ending blanket exemptions, only about 2,100 have actually enlisted.
Critics accuse Netanyahu of prioritizing coalition survival over Israeli security, pushing a legally dubious draft bill laden with loopholes that would do little to increase enlistment. The High Court has repeatedly expressed exasperation with government stalling, with Deputy Supreme Court President Noam Sohlberg noting in April 2026 that the court's rulings "had to be implemented" and that the ongoing delays appeared to be a "policy failure dressed up as procedural drift."
Source:Websites
