IDF to begin drafting 3,000 Haredi men starting Sunday, in three waves
Military says draft orders to be sent to the ultra-Orthodox men most likely to show up for duty, including those who work and have driver’s licenses
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant instructed the military on Thursday to send out 3,000 draft orders to members of the Haredi community in three waves, starting next week.
The first 1,000 draft orders to ultra-Orthodox men aged 18-26 were to be sent out on Sunday, with two additional waves of 1,000 every two weeks, according to the ministry and the Israel Defense Forces.
At the end of each wave of draft orders, the ministry said “a learning process will take place in order to improve the following waves.” The IDF noted it currently has no experience with drafting a large number of Haredi soldiers at once.
The army said it had launched a new website for Haredim (Hebrew) with information on available roles and its efforts to accommodate their lifestyle.
The draft orders are the first stage in the screening and evaluation process that the army carries out for new recruits, ahead of enlistment in the military in the coming year.
Last month, the High Court ruled that there was no longer any legal framework allowing the state to refrain from drafting Haredi yeshiva students into military service, and the attorney general ordered the government to immediately begin the process of conscription for 3,000 such men — the number the military has said it is able to process at this preliminary stage.
The IDF said the 3,000 potential Haredi conscripts who would receive draft orders in the coming weeks are individuals it assumes will actually show up to the induction center.
Using legally available data, the IDF said the 3,000 include men who are working, students of higher education, or who hold driver’s licenses — indicators that they are not in full-time yeshiva studies.
Elaborating on this to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Thursday, an IDF representative told lawmakers that the majority of those being called up are employed.
The IDF said that from its inquiries in recent months, it found that it is far easier to recruit married Haredi men, but they are less eligible for combat roles.
Among the 3,000 set to receive draft orders, only 15 percent are married while 85% are single, the latter of whom will be mostly intended for combat roles. According to the IDF’s data, 50% of the potential troops are aged 18-21, another 40% are between 22 and 23, and just 10% are aged 24-26.
Normally, the drafting process takes about two years from the moment the first draft order is sent to induction. For these 3,000 Haredi troops, the process is meant to be expedited. The IDF said their first visit to the induction center for evaluation would take place within two weeks, and they could be enlisted at the earliest 45 days later.
The IDF said it would act in accordance with the law, and those who ignore multiple draft orders will be issued orders preventing them from leaving the country, and they may face arrest by Military Police and be taken to military jails.
The military said it currently requires some 10,000 new soldiers — mostly combat troops — but can only accommodate the enlistment of an additional 3,000 ultra-Orthodox this year, due to their special needs. These are in addition to some 1,800 Haredi soldiers who are already drafted annually.
The same total number, 4,800, has also been set for next year, but the IDF said it aims to grow the number every year after that. This past year, 63,000 Haredi males were listed as eligible for military service.
The IDF aims to open new units for Haredi troops, in addition to the existing ones that include the Netzah Yehuda Battalion in the Kfir Brigade, the Tomer Company in the Givati Brigade’s Rotem Battalion, the Hetz Company in the Paratroopers Brigade’s 202nd Battalion, and the Nevatim Airbase’s ground defense unit, as well as numerous other non-combat roles.
The new units for Haredim the IDF is looking at opening include combat companies in the West Bank, a ground defense unit for Ramat David Airbase, and medical teams for other units.
Gallant’s decision was made following a meeting he held on Thursday morning with top army brass.
Prominent ultra-Orthodox rabbis have urged yeshiva students to ignore any communication from the IDF, and parties that represent the Haredi community have escalated threats to leave the coalition if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government fails to pass a law to largely exempt Haredi men from military service by the end of the Knesset’s summer session.
The IDF has said the orders were being issued as part of its plans “to advance the integration of conscripts from the ultra-Orthodox community into its ranks.”
It said it aims to recruit members of all segments of society to the military, “by virtue of it being the people’s army and in light of the increased operational needs at this time, in view of security challenges.”
The dispute over the ultra-Orthodox community serving in the military is one of the most contentious in Israel, with decades of governmental and judicial attempts to settle the issue never reaching a stable resolution. The Haredi religious and political leadership fiercely resists and protests any effort to draft young men.
Many ultra-Orthodox Jews believe that military service is incompatible with their way of life, and fear that those who enlist will be secularized. Israelis who do serve, however, say the decades-long arrangement of mass exemptions unfairly burdens them, a sentiment that has strengthened since the October 7 attacks and the ensuing war, in which more than 680 soldiers have been killed and over 300,000 citizens called up to reserve duty.
In light of the High Court’s position, the current government, which includes the Shas and United Torah Judaism ultra-Orthodox parties, has sought to pass legislation that would slowly increase Haredi enlistment, but major gaps remain between the desires of the Haredi factions and of many senior lawmakers from non-Haredi parties.
Jeremy Sharon and Sam Sokol contributed to this report.
