'The new law to be proposed will be applied to everyone: secular, ultra-Orthodox Jews, Jews, Arabs - everyone,' he added.īefore the cabinet meeting, the Likud party voted unanimously to adopt the proposals that the committee head, Yohanan Plesner, made public last week despite Netanyahu's dissolution of the panel. Netanyahu cautioned that moves to expand the national service of Arab Israelis and ultra-Orthodox Jews 'must be executed gradually and in a way that will not cause a rift in the national unity.' 'We are citizens of one state, and must all share the burden of its service,' he said at the opening of his weekly cabinet meeting, after the Likud party voted to endorse the findings of the so-called Plesner committee.
The decision was an about-turn for Netanyahu, who just last week had dissolved the panel whose recommendations he then endorsed, after a key coalition partner threatened to withdraw from the government if the proposals were not accepted. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Sunday he will back a controversial plan to compel ultra-Orthodox Jews and Arab Israelis to complete compulsory military or community service.
