IDF: Draft orders will be sent to 3,000 potential Haredi conscripts most likely to show up for duty

Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent

Thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews attend a rally against drafting Haredim to the IDF, in Mea Shearim, Jerusalem, June 30, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews attend a rally against drafting Haredim to the IDF, in Mea Shearim, Jerusalem, June 30, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

The Israel Defense Forces says the 3,000 potential Haredi conscripts who will receive draft orders in the coming weeks are those it assumes will actually show up to the induction center.

The orders will be sent out in three waves of 1,000 starting on Sunday, so the IDF can learn to improve itself each time, as it currently has no experience drafting a large number of Haredi soldiers at once. Each wave will take place two weeks apart.

Using legal data on the Haredi community, the IDF says the 3,000 include those who are working, students of higher education, or hold driver’s licenses — indicators that they are not in full-time yeshiva learning. The IDF is not able to check information such as at which yeshiva the potential draftees study.

The IDF says that from its inquiries in recent months, it found that it is far easier to recruit married Haredi men, though they are less eligible for combat roles.

Among the 3,000, only 15 percent are married while 85% are single, the latter of whom will be mostly sent to combat roles. According to the IDF’s data, 50% of the potential troops are aged 18 to 21, another 40% are between 22-23, and just 10% are 24 to 26.

The draft orders are the first stage in the screening and evaluation process that the army carries out for recruits, ahead of enlistment in the military in the coming year.

Normally, the process takes about two years from the time first draft order is sent to induction. For the 3,000 Haredi troops, the IDF says their first visit to the induction center for evaluation will take place within two weeks, and they could be enlisted at the earliest 45 days later.

The IDF says it will act in accordance with the law, and those who ignore multiple draft orders will be prevented from leaving the country and may face arrest by Military Police and be taken to military jails.

The military says it currently requires some 10,000 new soldiers — mostly combat — but can only accommodate the enlistment of an additional 3,000 ultra-Orthodox this year, in addition to the 1,800 Haredi soldiers who are drafted annually.

The same number, 4,800, has also been set for next year, but the IDF says it aims to grow every year after that. This past year, 63,000 Haredi males were listed as eligible for military service.

The IDF aims to open new units for Haredi troops, in addition to the existing ones that include the Netzah Yehuda Battalion in the Kfir Brigade, the Tomer Company in the Givati Brigade’s Rotem Battalion, the Hetz Company in the Paratroopers Brigade’s 202nd Battalion, and the Nevatim Airbase’s ground defense unit, as well as numerous other noncombat roles.

The new units for Haredim the IDF is mulling opening include combat companies in the West Bank, a ground defense unit for the Ramat David Airbase, and medical teams for other units.

Most Popular