An annotated bibliography of sources on the topic of:
Ultra-Orthodox Judaism and the Israeli Draft
compiled and annotated by Ethan Lang
for the course CAS CC 204: Religion and Secularism in Spring 2015
“Israel: Ultra-Orthodox Jews Rally Against Israeli Draft Law.” Asia News Monitor. Mar 05 2014. ProQuest. 9 Apr. 2015.
This article gives reasons for Ultra-Orthodox Jews having discontent against the possibility of a change in Israeli Draft Law. Although it is a short article, it gives important quotes from those opposing conscription of Ultra-Orthodox Jews in the Israeli Military.
“Ultra-Orthodox Jews Protest Israeli Army Draft Plans.” BBC Monitoring Middle East. May 17 2013. ProQuest. 9 Apr. 2015.
Much like the previous article, this gives a strong view of the Ultra-Orthodox community having a problem with a change in Draft Laws. But, it is important to use this article as well because it comes from a different source (BBC instead of Asia News). A different news source gives a slightly different perspective and draws different issues within the protests. Even from the same subject area, a different perspective is important.
Pablo Lerner and Alfredo Mordechai Rabello, “The (Re) Codification of Israeli Private Law: Support for, and Criticism of, the Israeli Draft Civil Law Code,” The American Journal of Comparative Law, Vol. 59, No. 3 (2011): 763-803.
In this excerpt from an American Journal on law, a comparative study of Israeli Draft Law is given. This article is important because it gives both sides of the controversy and allows for the most well-rounded research possible.
Martin Edelman, “The New Israeli Constitution,” Middle Eastern Studies, Vol. 36, no. 2 (2000): 1-27.
Outside of the Draft Controversy, it is important to have a basic understanding of the makeup of Israeli law. This article gives important background information and gives a better understanding of the creation of Israeli laws. It is quite general, not overly specific on the topic of Draft Law, but by gaining a better understanding of Israeli Constitutional law gives a better ability in comprehension of why the draft law is so important.
Shmuel Almog, Jehuda Reinharz, and Anita Shapira, Zionism and Religion (Hanover: Brandeis University Press, 1998), 273-311.
This book serves, like the before mentioned article, as background information. But this has less to do with law and much more to do with a better understanding of Israel and religion. As is important to distinguish, Zionism and Judaism are not one in the same. With this understanding, the discontent of Ultra-Orthodox Jews can be better understood. Why would this observant Jews put the priorities of their religious life over the military/security interests of the country? That is a possible answer that can be found in these two chapters of Zionism and Religion.