Over 70 mayors and council leaders from across Israel filed a petition on Wednesday condemning the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) draft exemption bill.<\/p>\n
“Studying Torah<\/a> is an important value in the Jewish people, but no less important than that is the value of preserving and defending the land,” the petition stated.<\/p>\n “Many of our residents are proving that it is possible to both study Torah and serve the state in the IDF<\/a> and the security forces. The legislation that was approved in the last few days is a serious blow to national resilience and the cohesion of Israeli society. It should not have come into the world, and certainly not at this complex time, and in light of the challenges that the State of Israel is facing at this time and the challenges that we will be required to face in the future.”<\/p>\n Among the petition’s signatories were Idan Greenbaum, head of the Jordan Valley Regional Council; Haim Bibas, mayor of Modi\u2019in and chairman of the Federation of Local Authorities; Shay Hajaj, head of the Merhavim Regional Council and chairman of the Federation of Regional Councils;\u00a0 and the mayors of several major cities, including Herzliya, Ramat Hasharon, Kfar Saba, and more.<\/p>\n