Cabinet secretary claims Haredi enlistment bill will lead to draft of tens of thousands

By Sam Sokol 1 December 2025, 12:14 pm

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Sam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. 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"

Cabinet secretary Yossi Fuchs criticizes the opposition for their rejection of the proposed bill on Haredi enlistment, saying “we need to acknowledge reality instead of burying our heads in the sand.”

The government’s proposed bill is “supposed to recruit 23,000 Haredi soldiers within three and a half years,” he argues, insisting that “one new battalion of regular soldiers [is worth] 10 reserve battalions. In other words, this law will result in a saving of 60 reserve battalions.”