The Tal Committee was an Israeli public committee appointed on 22 August 1999 which dealt with the special exemption from mandatory military service in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) given to Israeli ultra-Orthodox Jews which had been the status quo from the time of Ben Gurion, as well as extending mandatory military service to Israeli-Arabs.
The committee was appointed by Prime Minister Ehud Barak and was initially headed by former Supreme Court Justice Tzvi Tal.
Based on the committee recommendations, on 23 July 2002 the Knesset passed the temporary Tal Law, which expired after five years and was renewed.
Unlike other exemptions from military service given to some groups in Israel (Bedouin, Arabs, and others), it was based on a ministerial order and not specified in the law.
The Finance Ministry of Israel presented data which indicates an unreasonable rise in the number of exempt young men.
[citation needed] The committee was chaired by former Supreme Court Justice Tzvi Tal, and its members were Cabinet Secretary Isaac Herzog, attorney Jacob Weinroth, Deputy Director General of the Ministry of Defense Haim Israeli, Secretary of the Committee for Yeshivot in Eretz Yisrael Rabbi Asher Tenenboim, former head of the IDF's Manpower Directorate Moshe Nativ, Mayor of Hadera and former Police Major General Israel Sadan, deputy legal advisor to the defense system Rachel Stuvitzky, Mayor of Bnei Brak Rabbi Mordechai Kerlitz, and Deputy Attorney General Yehoshua Shufman.
[2] The law was also to affect recruitment within the Arab population[3] and was later reported to have been supported by the de facto leader of the Lithuanian and all non-Hasidic Haredim Rabbi Aharon Leib Shteinman.
To which R. Shteinman responded "Since you have heard a widespread and continued report suggesting that I am in support of the idea of Nachal Charedi, that bochurim who are weak in Torah study or in Yiras Shomayim will benefit from being there.
But for sure it is an unforgivable sin for anyone to persuade or entice in any possible way cause anyone who is not a mechallel Shabbos or committing other chayavei kerisos to go to the Nacahal Charedi.
Judge Mishael Cheshin determined that the law was illegitimate from its foundation, and completely contradicted the values of Israel as a Jewish democratic state, and Judge Asher Grunis said that the Court shouldn't interfere with Knesset decisions unless they damage rights of minorities, whereas in this case the damaged part is the majority, which must take care of its own rights.
Paradoxically, the petition promoted the law's implementation, as the state tried to prove that it does encourage military or civilian national service.
Originally the legislation harboured the hope that the law would launch a social process that without coercion would encourage ultra-Orthodox people to serve in the military or take part in civilian national service.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak welcomed the ruling; in the past he had expressed the view that only 2,000 to 3,000 Torah experts should be granted exemption.
[10] Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the government would formulate a new bill that would guarantee a more equal sharing of the burden by all parts of Israeli society.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman had expressed his objections to extending the Tal Law before the High Court ruling.
[9] On 2 July, Netanyahu dissolved the committee following the resignation of former Yisrael Beiteinu and Habayit Hayehudi representative Jacob Weinroth.
The aide then also said that "the prime minister knows Kadima's position, and the only reason for calling the meeting is to discuss the framework of the Plesner Committee and its recommendations, including issuing personal sanctions against those who refuse to serve in the IDF."
[17] If no accord is found it was further speculated that the two Haredi parties, United Torah Judaism and Shas, would leave the government[4] and a new election would be called.
[19] Netanyahu's office issued a statement in reaction to the report that read: "The draft dodger will not get the same reception as the service member."
but Mofaz rejected the moves and insisted that the recommendations of the Plesner Committee be adopted, causing a rift in Likud-Kadima relations.
The report...is the most thorough, serious and genuine document ever written on the issue of Haredim who avoid military service, the product of long months of work that began before the committee was even appointed.
It said that the "debate over these details masks a more fundamental and fractious one about evolving identity in this still-young state, where a 'people’s army' has long been a defining principle, and about the growing cleavage among its tribes.
[26] As the Camp Sucker Movement gained progress, tens of thousands of protestors attended rallies in support of universal service for Haredim and Israeli-Arabs in early July.