Defense officials slam new Haredi draft bill as ‘bluff’ that deepens IDF manpower crisis – report

Channel 12 reports that senior defense officials are sharply criticizing the government’s new ultra-Orthodox conscription bill, warning that it will worsen the IDF’s manpower crisis rather than ease it.

According to the report, the legislation does not meet the army’s needs and will continue to exacerbate the shortage of fighters and support personnel, estimated at 12,000 soldiers.

One official is quoted as saying the bill leaves “the exemption mechanism in the hands of the rabbis and not the IDF,” and will not bring the missing recruits into the military.

“This law is essentially a bluff,” the official adds.

Channel 12 further notes that the IDF’s existing manpower is already too small for its operational demands across multiple fronts, and that the pressure on active-duty soldiers and reservists – and their families – will intensify in the coming years.

The criticism comes as a new draft of the government’s controversial Haredi conscription bill, authored by Likud MK Boaz Bismuth, was released today to members of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.