In historic move, IDF issues draft orders to 1,000 ultra-Orthodox men

50% of first wave of 3,000 conscription notices sent to Haredim over the age of 21; next wave to be issued in two weeks

Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent

Ultra-Orthodox Jews arrive at the IDF Recruitment Center at Tel Hashomer, in central Israel, March 28, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
Ultra-Orthodox Jews arrive at the IDF Recruitment Center at Tel Hashomer, in central Israel, March 28, 2024. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

The Israel Defense Forces sent out the first batch of 1,000 draft orders to ultra-Orthodox men aged 18-26 on Sunday morning, in the first of three such waves scheduled for the coming four weeks.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant ordered on Thursday that the first batch of conscription notices be sent out after the weekend.

While prominent ultra-Orthodox rabbis have urged yeshiva students to ignore any communication from the IDF, the military said last week that the orders would be sent to individuals it believes will actually show up at the induction center.

The IDF said the 3,000 include men who have jobs, are enrolled in institutions of higher education, or hold driver’s licenses — indicators that they are not engaged in full-time yeshiva studies despite having received previous exemptions to study.

The orders, which constitute the first stage in the screening and evaluation process that the army carries out for recruits ahead of enlistment in the military in the coming year, come after a landmark High Court ruling last month said there was no longer any legal framework allowing the state to refrain from drafting Haredi yeshiva students into military service.

The government was ordered to immediately begin drafting 3,000 Haredi men — the number the military has said it can process at this preliminary stage.

Police remove ultra-Orthodox Jewish youth blocking a road to protest military recruitment in Bnei Brak, near Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, July 16, 2024. (AP/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Among the 3,000 set to receive draft orders, 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 22 or 23, and 10% are aged 24-26.

Normally, the drafting process takes about two years from the moment the first draft order is sent. 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 prevented from leaving the country and may face arrest by Military Police and be taken to military jails.

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 achieving a stable resolution. The Haredi religious and political leadership fiercely resists 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 Hamas attack 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 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 Haredi factions and many senior lawmakers from non-Haredi parties.

Jeremy Sharon and Sam Sokol contributed to this report.

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