From the Liveblog of
Thursday, October 30, 2025
Reservists in IDF’s new Haredi brigade mark end of training with Western Wall ceremony, held hours before mass anti-IDF draft rally
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleEmanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
This morning, just hours before the mass ultra-Orthodox protest against military conscription in Jerusalem, reservists of the IDF’s new Haredi brigade, known as the Hasmonean Brigade, stood for a ceremony at the Western Wall after completing their training.
The reservists completed a march to the holy site, where they received the Hasmonean Brigade’s signature dark blue beret.
"אני חייל חשמונאים, עם גאווה של יהודי. ובלילות אני לא ישן, את התורה אני נושם".
טקס הענקת הכומתה לחיילי חטיבת חשמונאים החרדיים הבוקר בכותל. pic.twitter.com/Bfyl09IWXq
— חרדים אקספרס (@haredimex) October 30, 2025
ועוד אירוע ביום הזה: טקס סיום מסע כומתה של לוחמים חרדים מפלוגת המילואים של חשמונאים שנערך בכותל pic.twitter.com/BrwFrb0tCW
— ישי כהן (@ishaycoen) October 30, 2025
The IDF has said that it carried out a “wide-ranging preparation process” to integrate the Haredi soldiers into the new brigade.
Soldiers serving in the Hasmonean Brigade are permitted to wear “Sabbath clothes” on Saturdays when not on duty, instead of military uniforms, and are required to attend prayers and a mandatory hour of Torah study daily. The troops are also required to have phones that are “kosher” — devices on which social media and most other apps are blocked.
Many ultra-Orthodox Jews believe that military service is incompatible with their way of life, and fear that those who enlist will be secularized.
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