Bennett vows to investigate ‘sabotage of Haredi enlistment’ if elected PM

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett announces that should he win this year’s election, he will “establish a special commission of inquiry regarding the sabotage of Haredi enlistment during the war, which has harmed Israel’s security.”

“Everyone who knowingly took part in violating the Security Service Law during wartime will be investigated,” Bennett pledges.

Some 80,000 ultra-Orthodox men aged between 18 and 24 are currently believed to be eligible for military service, but have not enlisted. During the course of the war in Gaza, the IDF repeatedly told lawmakers that it lacked 12,000 troops due to the strain of the conflict and other military challenges.

Last week, Military Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir reportedly warned the “IDF is going to collapse in on itself” as the army deals with mounting operational demands and a deepening manpower shortage.

In June 2024, the High Court issued a ruling ordering the government to start conscripting Haredi men. Since then, yeshivas harboring draft dodgers have seen their budgets slashed, draft refusers have lost access to daycare subsidies for their children and other benefits, and the IDF has begun arresting small numbers of evaders, including some attempting to leave the country.

However, at the same time, the coalition has pushed for legislation which would codify blanket exemptions from military service for full-time yeshiva students, while setting modest conscription targets for Haredi men as a whole. The bill, which had come under fire from a wide array of critics, was recently set aside but may be revived later.

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara recently told the High Court that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has failed to comply with a court order directing it to draw up sanctions against ultra-Orthodox draft dodgers.

At the same time, the IDF has complained that the Israel Police have been systematically preventing the army from arresting draft evaders in ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods.

Both the Attorney General’s Office and police have not taken action against a network of Haredi draft evasion hotlines, including one founded by former cabinet minister Meir Porush, which encourage yeshiva students to ignore conscription orders and actively mobilizes protesters to prevent the arrest of evaders.

Hardline Haredi groups have also paid grants to draft evaders released from military prison.