The recommendations made by the Plesner Committee are bad ones. They are bad because not only do they not put an end to the blight of draft dodging, they actually give it legitimacy. They are bad because they don't generate equal sharing of the defense burden. They are bad because they presume that 20 percent of the ultra-Orthodox will continue to evade enlistment. They are bad because those haredim who do eventually enlist will only serve two-thirds of the standard time period (normally two years for women and three years for men). They are bad because those who do choose to do national service — and it's still unclear just what that will entail or how serious it will be — will only have to serve half the standard time period.
But even though these are bad recommendations, I support them and hope dearly they are approved and implemented. There are two cliches I dislike that nevertheless apply in this case. I dislike the cliche that the perfect is the enemy of the good, because it exalts mediocrity. And I dislike the cliche that it's more important to be smart than right, because it forfeits the aspiration to justice. In this case, however, the most just, moral solution is not attainable and could lead to the fracturing of Israeli society. More
