IDF to start sending out draft orders to ultra-Orthodox on Sunday

The IDF says it will begin to send out initial draft orders to members of the Haredi community, starting on Sunday.

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

“The orders were issued as part of the IDF’s plan to advance the integration of conscripts from the ultra-Orthodox community into its ranks,” the military says.

The IDF says it aims to recruit members of all segments of society to the military, “by virtue of it being the people’s army and in light of the increased operational needs at this time, in view of the security challenges.”

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant last week said the draft orders would begin to be sent out to the Haredi community next month.

The Haredi religious and political leadership fiercely resists and protests any effort to draft mainstream yeshiva students who are actually involved in religious study.

The issue of ultra-Orthodox conscription is among the most contentious in Israeli public discourse. Many ultra-Orthodox Jews believe that military service is incompatible with their way of life and fear that those who enlist will be secularized. Many Israelis who do serve, however, say the decades-long arrangement of mass exemptions unfairly burdens them, a sentiment that has strengthened since the beginning of the war, which has seen over 300 soldiers killed on Israel’s various fronts as well as over 300,000 citizens called up to reserve duty.