The proposal to deny voting rights to those who haven’t served in the IDF, now endorsed by figures across Israel’s political spectrum, including opposition leader Yair Lapid, represents a fundamental threat to democratic principles.
What began with Yoaz Hendel and Avigdor Liberman has morphed into a populist bandwagon that should alarm anyone who values the foundations of Israeli democracy.
In our democracy, there is no place for this type of sanction. Voting is not a privilege to be earned; it is a fundamental right of citizenship.
The moment we begin conditioning this right on military service, we venture into territory almost entirely foreign to Western democracies. Without the solid protections afforded by a constitution – which Israel does not have – it would be open to other political whims and temporary coalitions.
The practical questions alone should give pause. Will this apply only to haredi (ultra-Orthodox) men who receive exemptions? What about Arab citizens, who are not drafted? Haredi and religious girls who do not draft?
What about those who refuse service on grounds of conscience or those medically disqualified? What about draft dodgers who relocate abroad?
Once we open this door, where does it end? The proposal is superficial and opens the political door to future abuses.
The danger of exclusion
Consider how rare such restrictions are globally. Even in Western democracies that deny voting rights to convicted criminals – like the UK or Australia – the denial applies only during incarceration. Once released, rights are restored.
These restrictions target specific criminal behavior, not entire demographic groups, and are temporary rather than permanent. Most Western democracies, including Canada, Germany, and Scandinavia, even allow prisoners to vote.
In the USA there are some restrictions at the state level in some states, but no restrictions on the right to vote in federal elections. The idea of permanently disenfranchising citizens based on military service is virtually unprecedented in the democratic world.
The irony here is particularly bitter. Those who stood against the previous government’s judicial reforms, who marched, demonstrated, and warned of threats to Israeli democracy, now embrace this populist notion. It represents an enormous own goal.
How can opposition leaders credibly claim to defend democratic norms while proposing to strip voting rights from entire communities? The hypocrisy undermines the very moral authority they wielded during those protests.
Military service is a civic duty in Israel, and debates about equitable burden-sharing are legitimate. But the solution isn’t disenfranchisement – it’s legislation, incentives (positive and negative), enforcement, and honest, frank dialogue.
The need to reset the relationship between the haredi community in Israel and the rest of society is both clear and critical, but denying the right to vote solves nothing and poisons everything.
What Israel needs isn’t populist gimmicks that corrode democratic foundations. The next government must prioritize what Israel has lacked since its founding: a full constitution that finally secures majority and minority rights once and for all.
A proper constitution would establish clear, protected voting rights immune to political whims.
It would define the relationship between citizens and the state, protect fundamental freedoms, and create frameworks for resolving the genuine tensions around military service without resorting to disenfranchisement.
Democracy isn’t strengthened by excluding voices; it’s strengthened by including them, even when those voices belong to communities whose choices frustrate and sometimes enrage us.
Those who truly believe in Israeli democracy must reject this proposal entirely, regardless of who champions it.
The writer is founding partner of Goldrock Capital and founder of the Institute for Jewish and Zionist Research. He is a businessman and social activist. He is the founding co-chair for the Coalition for Haredi Employment and is a former chair of Gesher and World Bnei Akiva.