Katz approves issuance of 7K draft orders to Haredim, first 1,000 will be sent on Sunday

Defense Minister Israel Katz has approved sending out 7,000 draft orders to ultra-Orthodox Israelis starting next week.

The decision had already been made by former defense minister Yoav Gallant, a day before he was fired. Katz did not cancel it, and the military said earlier this week that it was going ahead with the move.

The first 1,000 will be sent out on Sunday, and all 7,000 will be sent out within the coming months.

The ministry says that Katz “intends to hold an in-depth dialogue with all the parties to try and advance an agreed solution, which will allow a true integration of the ultra-Orthodox into the IDF to ease the burden on the conscript, career and reserve soldiers.”

Katz adds that “the IDF will do everything to allow the ultra-Orthodox [soldiers] a supportive environment that will ensure their ability to fulfill their tasks in the IDF, alongside maintaining their religious lifestyle.”

The dispute over the ultra-Orthodox community serving in the military is one of the most contentious in Israel, with decades of governmental and judicial attempts to settle the issue never achieving a stable resolution. The Haredi religious and political leadership fiercely resists any effort to draft young men.

Netanyahu’s ultra-Orthodox coalition partners have pushed for the passage of a law regulating military exemptions for yeshiva students and other members of the Haredi community, after the High Court ruled in June that the dispensations, in place for decades, were illegal.

The Haredi United Torah Judaism and Shas parties have accused both Gallant and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara of being the main obstacles to a bill enshrining the decades-long Haredi draft exemption.

Following Katz’s decision to forge ahead with issuing the draft orders to Haredim, a senior UTJ official says “It turns out it’s not the attorney general or Gallant — the Likud has decided to declare war on the ultra-Orthodox.”