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National Service and the Historic Covenant
"National Service" came into being shortly after Israel's declaration of independence.
The state's first citizens went to elect their representatives to the Knesset and the government. Parties were chosen, and the members of the First Knesset convened to enact laws and establish regulations by which the country's affairs would be managed.
The "Defense Service Law" was one of the most important in the newly born state's book of laws. The law officially regulated the structure of the Israeli army, "the people's army" – which is part of the people, and the people are part of it. The main clause of the law mandated compulsory military service for every citizen, male or female, upon reaching the age of 18, and the wording was explicit, leaving no room for doubt: compulsory for men and women alike. Such an explicit clause seemed self-evident in the days of the First Knesset.
The lawmakers, who drafted the Defense Service Law, enjoyed an absolute majority in the Knesset and among the populace. This was a secular majority. Its representatives in the Knesset and in culture looked towards progress and equality, praising the new Hebrew spirit, its progressive way of life, and its values, which were relatively enlightened compared to its neighbors in the Middle East. The integration of women into all aspects of life was considered by them unique and groundbreaking, a symbol and example for other nations.
Opposing them was a united front of the religious public, in all its factions and streams. Conservative Haredim, Hasidim, and Litvaks, along with moderate religious individuals from the Religious Zionist movement (then called: Dati-Leumi) – all objected to the enlistment of women in general, and the enlistment of religious girls in particular. All were horrified by the idea that an eighteen-year-old girl, one of their own, would leave the protective family home guarding her and the values she was raised on. That she would wear a uniform and be subject to state frameworks that would impose a lifestyle completely alien to her religious ways. The Haredi leaders were not content with speeches in the Knesset – they convened mass rallies and took to the streets to protest against the law that contravened their values.
The growing opposition threatened to spiral into unrestrained violence.
Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion greatly desired the religious parties in his coalition, as partners in leading the country, and sought a political compromise. He conceded, and they conceded. The principle of equality in conscription remained unchanged, but a clause was added to the law exempting a woman from the obligation to enlist if she declared herself religious, as stated in the law: "reasons of conscience or religious conviction prevent her from serving in regular service."
The clause appeased the opponents, ensuring their daughters would not be conscripted. When the Defense Service Law came up for a vote in the Knesset, they expressed their protest by abstaining from the vote. They neither opposed nor voted for it. With this clause, the "Declaration" form came into being – perhaps the most commonly used and famous document in Israeli society. A form that classifies 18-year-old Israeli young women into two camps: those who enlist in the IDF, and those who "declare."
This is the 18-year-old girl's "Declaration" form, issued in the 1950s at the Rabbinical Court in Tel Aviv. One page titled: "Declaration 'Behin Tzedek' (In all fairness / In good faith)"
In the first section, the girl declares that reasons of religious conviction prevent her from enlisting in defense service. In the second section, the rabbinical judge (Dayan) at the court confirms that the girl signed the declaration in his presence after being cautioned to declare the truth. With this form, the declarant reported to the Induction Center and received an exemption from military service. Seventy years after the form's inception, it still exists, in a different format with minor changes.
Click the image to enlarge
The compromise lasted two years.
Then, a counter-struggle began, led by secular Knesset members who demanded equality in the national burden for every Israeli woman. Their pressure led to the enactment of a separate law concerning religious young women, obligating them to perform National Service.
The first "National Service Law" was passed in the Knesset in August 1953 by a large majority. Its main clauses stated: a woman exempt from military service is obligated to perform National Service lasting two years, in the fields of health, welfare, agriculture, or any other occupation determined by the state. The nature of the service would allow a religious girl to maintain her lifestyle. To appease the religious public, the lawmakers defined the goals of National Service as distinct goals unrelated to military service. In fact, Knesset members were called upon to vote on a law that had no connection with the Ministry of Defense and the state's security needs, but rather a civic duty related to the "Ministry of Labor."
During the discussions preceding the vote, impassioned speeches were heard in the Knesset plenum, both for and against. Golda Meir, then Minister of Labor, was the main speaker. Golda enumerated the service areas desperately needing manpower during those years of mass immigration absorption and economic austerity. Golda raised arguments about discrimination between girls, and spoke about harming the self-esteem of religious girls who wished to serve the state but had no way to fulfill this duty. She recalled the deeds of women throughout the history of the Jewish people – from Deborah the Prophetess and Jael, wife of Heber the Kenite, to Hannah Szenes and Bracha Fuld. She pointed to religious women serving in the Knesset and in public positions, and young religious girls working in various roles in the private sector. The Knesset protocol also records the words of the opponents.
Besides the Haredim, whose opposition was understandable, representatives from other factions also expressed opposition. Knesset members from the right claimed that raising the law was intended to punish the Haredi parties for withdrawing from the coalition. Knesset members from the left argued that it was an anti-social law, whose sole purpose was to allow the state to employ free labor and exploit naive girls.
The heated and charged debate leading up to the vote was for the record only.
Its outcome was predictable, and all participants knew what the voting result would be: an overwhelming majority in favor, including the votes of Knesset members from the National Religious parties. These MKs had participated in drafting the law and voted for it only after being certain that it was merely a symbolic law. A law that, on the very day it was enacted, all lawmakers knew would be stripped of its content by a political maneuver.
The maneuver was a "technical arrangement," simple and easy to execute: to implement a law, the responsible minister is required to enact regulations that would enable its realization. Behind the scenes, the coalition partners agreed that there would be no regulations.
The religious representatives were not content with promises like "it will be fine" and "trust us," and for good measure, it was also declared from the Knesset podium, in government ministers' statements, leaving no doubts about what the future held.
The promise was kept.
No regulations were enacted, and the "National Service Law" was written into the book of laws as a law empty of content. A law that entered deep freeze from then on and for several years thereafter. Religious girls, including those from the Religious Zionist sector, filled out the "Declaration" form, received an exemption from military service, and moved on to the next chapter of their lives.
This is how the system worked, allowing for continued cooperation between representatives of the National Religious public and representatives of the veteran secular establishment.
Between Religious Zionism and Secular Zionism. In the political and social history of Israel, this partnership is known as: "The Historic Covenant."
This was a partnership laden with the interests of both sides, working towards realizing the vision of the return of the Jewish people to their land. The two allies understood the great responsibility resting upon them to fulfill the Zionist vision after two thousand years of exile, and skillfully combined ideology and politics, vision and action.
Within this partnership, which lasted decades, political deals were forged between the partners. These deals were sometimes honorable compromises and "combinot" (a Hebrew term for creative, often informal, solutions) that bypassed problems and squared circles. One such "combinah" was this law, the "National Service Law" – whose framers, those who drafted it, intended to freeze it from the outset, making it impossible to implement.
Leaders of "The Historic Covenant" in the 1950s. From left to right: Ben-Gurion, Yosef Burg, Moshe Shapiro, Golda Meir, Pinchas Lavon
Two decades passed. The 1953 National Service Law remained frozen. Occasionally, it served as a political tool – either in the hands of secularists demanding equality between religious and secular girls, or in the hands of Haredi leaders warning that the law's very existence was a "decree of annihilation" (Gzeirat Shmad) to Jewish values and that the Knesset must abolish it.
Meanwhile, the Religious Zionist sector deepened its hold on Israeli society. Its political party, the Mafdal, achieved political and social successes, accumulating real estate and intellectual assets. Its leaders established a "Young Guard" – a reserve of young men and women, Religious Zionists, who would lead missions of settlement and development in the spirit of Religious Zionist ideology. In the 1960s, the number of these young people was estimated in the tens of thousands.
The young people of the Mafdal were dispersed everywhere – in the army and at university, in cinemas and public parks, in grocery stores and coffee shops, in urban residential neighborhoods and suburbs. All bore the Religious Zionist identifying mark: boys – with knitted kippot, girls – in modestly reserved attire, skirts or dresses and short or long-sleeved shirts. Boys offered girls romantic companionship, and girls knitted kippot for them as a romantic gesture. Upon reaching age 18 – boys went to the army, and girls signed the "Declaration" and continued to university or work. And when the young men and women sat together and discussed matters of global significance – both began to wonder aloud how the girls, too, could fulfill a civic duty. National Service, for instance.
This happened in a Tel Aviv conference hall on a winter night in 1965. And on that, and more, in the next chapter (by clicking the link):
And these are the chronicles of National Service and the story of The Association for Volunteering in 7 chapters. Each chapter is on a separate link:
The full story of National Service is based on the book : "The Association for Volunteering - Fifty Years of National Service" Written in Hebrew and published in Israel Published by The Association for Volunteering (NPO). 2022. Research, writing, and editing:
Shlomi Rosenfeld
