From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, January 7, 2025
IDF able to sharply increase the number of Haredi recruits in coming years, top officer says
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam 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"
The IDF’s capacity to absorb ultra-Orthodox recruits is set to increase dramatically in the coming years, Brig. Gen. Shay Tayeb, head of the IDF Personnel Directorate’s Planning and Personnel Management Division, tells lawmakers.
Testifying before the Knesset State Control Committee, Tayeb says that in the current year, the IDF can handle 4,800 Haredi recruits, a number that will rise by 20% to 5,700 in 2026. Assuming the IDF is provided with the necessary resources, it will be able to absorb Haredim “without any restrictions” after that.
In addition, all eligible Israelis aged 16 from the current draft cohort will receive recruitment orders, with more than 10,000 outstanding call-up orders issues being issued over the course of the coming year, he adds.
Going forward, “there will be tens of thousands of members of the ultra-Orthodox community under orders,” he says.
Turning to the issue of sanctions, Tayeb argues that the current legal penalties for failing to comply with enlistment orders are “not strong enough” and need to be strengthened.
At the moment, people defined as draft dodgers only face consequences if caught attempting to fly abroad or other marginal activities and do not affect people’s day-to-day lives, he explains.
The Times of Israel Community.