Lapid: AG must take ‘decisive action’ against Haredi draft evasion organizations
Those behind hotlines instructing yeshiva students to ignore enlistment orders ‘should be treated as criminal offenders,’ says opposition leader
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid called on Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara to take “swift and decisive action” against ultra-Orthodox telephone hotlines encouraging draft evasion during a press conference on Sunday, stating that those behind such operations “should be treated as criminal offenders.”
Asked by The Times of Israel about the growing number of groups (including one linked to Jerusalem Affairs Minister Meir Porush) running hotlines counseling Haredi callers on how to respond to enlistment orders, Lapid responded that unless the Attorney General’s Office takes action soon, his Yesh Atid party will turn to the police.
Yesh Atid MK Vladimir Beliak submitted a query on the matter to the Attorney General’s Office in mid-February “and we expect swift and decisive action from the attorney general and the legal system,” Lapid stated. “Otherwise, Yesh Atid will file a complaint with the police. On the face of it, these are criminal offenses, and the people who commit them should be treated as criminal offenders.”
Since the High Court of Justice’s ruling in June 2024 that the government must draft ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students, multiple initiatives affiliated with various Haredi factions have sprung up to guide young men through their new post-exemption reality — and encourage them to disregard IDF enlistment orders.
Porush’s hotline has told callers to “just ignore” summonses to the IDF’s recruitment bureau. At the same time, another advice line run by the “Vaad HaYeshivot” (Yeshiva Committee) has insisted that yeshiva students “not report [to the army] under any circumstances.”
The Israel Police and the attorney general appear to have failed to crack down on such groups, despite demands for investigation by advocacy groups and lawmakers. Under the law, someone inciting others to evade service during wartime is liable for a prison term of 15 years.
Lapid’s call for action came less than a week after the hawkish opposition Yisrael Beytenu party demanded that the Attorney General’s Office prosecute Israelis engaged in “inciting” against draft evasion, after extremist demonstrators attempted to physically prevent ultra-Orthodox recruits from entering the IDF’s induction center at the Tel Hashomer military base.
The Attorney General’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Describing those who evade the draft as “criminals” who “shouldn’t receive a reward from the state,” Lapid also told reporters that when the opposition takes power, it will cut government benefits for those who refuse to serve.
While the IDF is now calling up tens of thousands of reservists ahead of an expected expanded Gaza offensive, tens of thousands of “young Haredi men of draft age are currently evading conscription with the active encouragement of the Netanyahu government,” he said.
“Why are they being called again? Because the IDF doesn’t have enough soldiers,” he continued, noting recent IDF figures showing that out of 18,915 Haredi men issued conscription orders during the current enlistment cycle, only 232 have joined the army.
“Almost 99 percent of the Haredim who received an order did not enlist in the IDF. They evade because the government lets them. In the past year, the number of Haredim who were detained for questioning because they did not report for enlistment was 340. How many of them are currently in custody? As far as we were able to tell, one,” Lapid said, adding that the government is spending billions of shekels on government benefits for draft dodgers.
The army has stated that it is facing a manpower shortage and currently needs some 12,000 new soldiers — 7,000 of whom would be combat troops. However, just over 1,800 Haredim have enlisted in the IDF since last summer, far less than the military’s goal of 4,800.
“This is the law. The law says that every young man in Israel must enlist, and anyone who doesn’t enlist is a criminal. Anyone who is a criminal shouldn’t receive a reward from the state. I’m announcing [that] the day we form the government, the principle will be simple: anyone who doesn’t enlist, won’t receive a single shekel from the State of Israel.”
Last week, Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Likud MK Yuli Edelstein asserted that the panel he heads is nearing a final draft of a law regulating ultra-Orthodox enlistment.
Netanyahu’s ultra-Orthodox coalition partners have been pushing for the passage of legislation enshrining military exemptions for yeshiva students and other members of the Haredi community since last year’s groundbreaking court ruling.
Edelstein has long stood as a barrier to the controversial legislation’s passage, personally signing a declaration of principles calling for mass mobilization of Haredi men as well as the imposition of “personal and financial sanctions” on those who fail to obey draft orders.
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