By COLlive reporter
Rivka Hajaj, a young woman from a Chabad family in Netanya, has been spending 2 weeks in a military prison in Israel for evasion after trying to board a plane with her family.
Israel has mandatory conscription, but exemption from military service is given to women for religious reasons. Four of Hajaj’s sisters were indeed exempted from the army for religious reasons.
But a spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Rivka Hajaj didn’t qualify and was therefore imprisoned as done to citizens who refuse to serve in the IDF.
“Rivka Hajaj submitted a religious affidavit in July 2017,” the IDF told Israeli media. “Following evidence that was found and presented to her, which indicated a false statement, the aforementioned has decided to withdraw the religious declaration.
“After the necessary procedures, she was placed for re-enlistment. Despite her waiver of the declaration, after a few months, she again applied for an exemption for religious reasons, and her request was examined by the deputy commander of Meitav and denied, and it was decided that she must be drafted.”
But members of the family protested the decision and called it unfair in an interview with Mendy Rizel, the military correspondent of the Kol Barmah radio station.
“At one point, Rivka went off the derech,” a family member said, referring to Hajaj’s dropping frum Jewish observance during the time when her sister suffered a rare stroke and the family was in a state of turmoil.
“Today she is completely and 100% religious girl and meets all the criteria for granting a religious exemption,” the family member said. “Maybe the army relies on pictures from the past, but a person is allowed to fall spiritually and then return.”
Family members said Rikva has been back in the Chassidic fold for 3 years now but the IDF has still refused to grant her an exemption from military service.
“For three years the army fought her,” the relative said. “She traveled more than 10 times to Haifa and spoke to a lot of commanders and tried to explain their story to them, but no one would listen.”
Street protests in her support were held over the last few days in Israel.
If she gets married then she is exempt from military service nor sherut leumi. Mazal Tov!
No girls should be serving in the army.
Only Israel and North Korea have forced conscription for girls.
It is clearly against Halacha and therefore all Rabonim forbid it for all girls regardless if they are religious or not.
The government only agreed to waive the demand with regards to the religious ones.
The army has been sending home many seasoned soldiers. They have too many soldiers. Today with technology the army does not need so many soldiers. The only reason they want to draft Yeshiva boys is to corrupt the religious youth. Training a Yeshiva boy costs double than others. So why send away trained soldiers and get ones that will be twice as expensive to train. We can not trust the secularist running the government with their sinister ideas. The army I had become a liberal brainwashing indoctrination center.
That’s the law. Because she’s frum then we have to protest? Gimme a break.
No reason a not religious person has to risk their life to protect a religious person’s life. All should serve. No daughter is more valuable than the other.
Why doesn’t she go sherut leuminlike so many others…?
may we hear good news immediately! only revealed good things for her and her family.
Isn’t anyone thinking what a chilul HaShem this is! There is definitely ways to get around her going to the army that don’t include protesting and dividing up yidden!
I obviously don’t know the system but I do know that there is options for shomer Shabbos girls and there is definitely a more peaceful way to deal with this
I’m disappointed that everyone’s first response is one of fighting
They have room in jail for a jewish girl who had a hard life which caused her to be OTD a while. But Arab murderers are released by the hundreds. This is a vicious anti Jewish government. This whole leadership is obsessed with emulating the lowest classes of goyim in the west. A revolution is needed. Now there are new elections and every religious Jew should vote to increase the power of religious parties. When will Israel become a jewish country and stop with their copying big time of antiTorah behavior. Jewish girls need to become mothers not gun toting… Read more »
Because a lot of false claims of religious exemptions and new laws it’s harder to get free pass and not to serve the army …, yes army does not know but check all social media , Facebook, Instagram etc to check the background nowadays …
So I’m sorry that she is in military jail but she knew that she has a prohibition to leave Israel 🇮🇱 without right papers from the army …
Family need to hire a lawyer now to get her out
Girls are in the army of Hashem. Best way to protest: sign up more girls in Tzivos Hashem and help them do missions. They are fighting by incarcerating her physically. We must respond spiritually.
I’m sorry that she’s locked up, but she knows she didn’t get an exemption. She’s on the”DO NOT FLY” radar so it wasn’t smart to try to leave.
Warning to other kids. Going OTD may seem cool not, but it will haunt you years from now when you come to your senses.
So get help, but don’t destroy your life just because it’s the easier path to take.
I would like to see you being so self righteous if this were your daughter.
Sherut leumi is not linked to the army.
a religious girl is not required to serve in the idf by the israeli law
Please do some research before your post a comment
Did they use Peleg to protest? I hope not
As far as i know sherut leumi is not in the army. It’s an alternative for religious girls, we’re they volunteer at different places instead of going to the army.
A jewish girl is forbidden to join an army. No rabbi said it’s ok unless they are reform.
very common. I believe it hundreds if no thousand cases like this. why collive wake u now?
OMG let the girl free now
She was OTD for a while. But now she is frum again. Had she pleased her case before that rabbanut who can vouch that they accept her as frum, the same way they examine overseas converts?
Because the army knows of her fallen past but refuses to accept that she did table teshuva
The law is the law you can’t pick and choose when you decide to be religious. she can do many things in the army such as shiut leumi which thousands of frum girls do every year.
You can organize protests at the Israeli consulate in nyc. On second ave and 42 st. Not a difficult thing to do. You need protests in israel as well. Contact meah shearim and Beth shemesh guys. They know how. Why are people sleeping. A girl is forbidden to join army.
If we can do more than that, let us know please!
Let her free!
Is there anything we can do from here to help her?
this decision is insane really