Germany's Central Council of Jews welcomes the conscription law effective since January as a necessary modernization of defense. The Jewish Student Union views the debate as partly detached from reality and warns against normalizing militarism. These differing positions reflect Germany's complex history.
Josef Schuster, president of Germany's Central Council of Jews, told the RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland (RND): "The Russian war of aggression against Ukraine has shown that Germany can no longer outsource its security to its allies." He supports the federal government's course and the modernization of conscription, as strong military deterrence prevents war. This aligns with a Central Council position paper from last autumn.
Germany's history heavily influences the debate. Under Nazi rule, Jews were deemed "unfit for service," and six million were murdered. After 1949, Jews with ancestors affected by the Shoah could be exempted from conscription until 2011. In 2019, the Central Council signed a military chaplaincy agreement with the Federal Republic, supported by law in 2020. Since 2024, a military rabbinate exists, which the Central Council calls a "milestone" since the Nazi dictatorship and Wehrmacht crimes.
Skepticism persists nonetheless. Military Rabbi Shmuel Havlin estimates the number of Jewish soldiers in 2024 at around 400. Of the Jewish community's approximately 200,000 members, only a low four-digit number are 18 years old and eligible for the initially voluntary conscription.
Ron Dekel, chairman of the Jewish Student Union (JSUD), criticized to the RND: "The conscription debate seems partly detached from reality. It lacks the life realities of young people of conscription age who have a migration background or whose family history and identity include special experiences with German state violence." He pointed to rising racism and recalled Jewish participation in World War I, which did not end antisemitism. Dekel called for alternatives to armed service.
The Central Council's position paper demands, in case of reinstating conscription, a simplified provision for alternative service. Felix Klein, the federal commissioner for Jewish life, said: "The Jewish community is more closely connected to the Bundeswehr than ever before." A non-public youth congress with a discussion on conscription is scheduled for late February in Hamburg.
