Israeli MPs have voted 67-1 in favour of a law which would see ultra-Orthodox Jews included in compulsory military service.<br /><br />The opposition boycotted the vote in protest.<br /><br />Until now, ultra-Orthodox Jews had avoided being in the army, saying they served the country through prayer and study.<br /><br />The legislation will come in in 2017 and will limit the number of those who can be exempt to 1800.<br /><br />“This law creates a process not an overnight change, but a process by which slowly they will be integrated more and more into the military and also to the workforce.This is an important value for us as a nation in general to be unified “ Dov Lippman MK from the Yesh Atid party said.<br /><br />Hundreds of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews have protested in the run up to the law being passed and say they will hold more mass rallies if it is enforced.<br /><br />Itzhak Vaknin MK from the ultra-orthodox Shas party explained why he was opposed to the new law: “This legislation is problematic for one reason, which in my opinion is unacceptable, it will say that a Jew who studies the Torah is committing a crime and will go to prison.”<br /><br />Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, also amended other laws including raising the percentage of votes needed for a seat in parliament, which is widely seen as targeting Arab parties.
