From the Liveblog of
Monday, November 4, 2024
IDF to issue 7K draft orders to Haredim after first phase of draft plan largely unsuccessful
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
The IDF will be sending out another 7,000 draft orders to members of the ultra-Orthodox community next week, which Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has approved, after the first phase of a plan to draft Haredi soldiers was largely unsuccessful.
The draft orders are the first stage in the screening and evaluation process that the army carries out for new recruits, ahead of enlistment in the military in the coming year.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant held a meeting today with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi and other military officials, where he was presented with the summary of the first phase of the Haredi draft plan, his office says.
The IDF sent out 3,000 draft orders in that stage, although just 230 showed up at induction centers.
At the end of the meeting, Gallant approved the IDF’s recommendation to send out 7,000 more draft orders to ultra-Orthodox men.
Those who ignore multiple calls will be considered deserters and may be arrested.
Many ultra-Orthodox Jews believe that military service is incompatible with their way of life, and fear that those who enlist will be secularized. Israelis who do serve, however, say the decades-long arrangement of mass exemptions unfairly burdens them, a sentiment that has strengthened since the October 7 onslaught and the ensuing war, in which more than 780 soldiers have been killed and some 300,000 citizens have been called up to reserve duty.
The military has said that it currently requires some 10,000 new soldiers — mostly combat troops — but can only accommodate the enlistment of an additional 3,000 ultra-Orthodox this year, due to their special needs. These are in addition to some 1,800 Haredi soldiers who are already drafted annually.
In June, the High Court ruled that there was no longer any legal framework allowing the state to refrain from drafting Haredi yeshiva students into military service, and the attorney general ordered the government to immediately begin the process of conscription for 3,000 such men.
