MK Tzvi Succot of the far-right Religious Zionist Party requested on Tuesday to enlist in the IDF.
Succot was exempted from service in his youth due to his involvement in the 2005 struggle against the Disengagement Plan, a controversial initiative to unilaterally withdraw from the Gaza Strip.
Last month, Succot approached the Knesset's legal advisor to explore the legal avenues for his enlistment, and his request is currently under review with the aim of revoking his previous exemption and allowing him to enlist in the IDF during the Knesset's summer recess.
"Our strength is demonstrated when each of us looks at ourselves and thinks about how we can contribute more to the effort to defeat our enemies," Succot explained regarding his decision to enlist.
"In addition to my work as a member of Knesset, I also want to contribute through military service, which I have been unable to participate in for years. This is not the first time I have tried to revoke the exemption given to me after the disengagement from Gush Katif, but I hope that this time the IDF will take my request seriously and allow me to serve," referring to a cluster of Jewish settlements in Gaza that was dismantled and evacuated as part of the plan.
Over the years, Succot has repeatedly attempted to revoke his exemption and enlist, but the military has refused his requests. His office now expresses hope that the ongoing war has changed the IDF's stance on this issue, and that the army will agree to his enlistment.
Succot seeks to join the army through the Stage B program, which includes about two weeks of basic training and assignment to a reservist role, where he will be called up like any active reservist.
Since the beginning of the war, over 1,000 people have been enlisted through this program, most of them ultra-Orthodox men.