Military establishes 1st Air Force technicians unit for ultra-Orthodox men
26 soldiers operating at one of the 105th Squadron’s reinforced aircraft shelters at Ramat David Airbase will service F-16 fighter jets
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
The Israel Defense Forces announced Wednesday it had established a first-ever Israeli Air Force technicians unit for young men of the ultra-Orthodox community, allowing them to maintain their religious lifestyle while serving in the army.
The unit is based out of one of the 105th Squadron’s reinforced aircraft shelters at the Ramat David Airbase in northern Israel. The squadron operates F-16 fighter jets.
On Tuesday, 26 Haredi soldiers completed their training and are now certified “level A” technicians for the F-16. The technicians will “ensure the operational competence of the planes and the weapon systems,” the military said.
The Israeli military has been striving to draft members of the community amid ongoing political turmoil over the Haredi draft, which has divided the coalition.
It was the first time the military has carried out a training course for level A technicians for the ultra-Orthodox community, and it said that the move was “part of significant processes in the IDF designed to integrate ultra-Orthodox youth into the army, while making the necessary adjustments to allow them to maintain their religious lifestyle, such as separate accommodation, strict kashrut (Jewish dietary laws) and the establishment of a synagogue in the reinforced aircraft shelter.”
The military added that the new unit is a “groundbreaking pilot project, the goal of which is to integrate ultra-Orthodox youth into military service while meeting the needs of the IDF.”
As part of efforts to expand the draft of ultra-Orthodox men, the IDF has been working to open new units — and potentially even a separate induction center — for Haredi troops, in addition to the existing ones.
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 having never achieved a resolution. The Haredi religious and political leadership fiercely resists any effort to draft young men and they have in the past been granted exemptions from serving, but the issue has come to a head amid recent High Court rulings demanding an end to blanket exemptions, and the manpower shortages caused by the ongoing war.
Last month the IDF said it would send out another 7,000 draft orders to members of the community, after the first phase of a plan to draft Haredi soldiers was largely unsuccessful.
The IDF had sent out 3,000 draft orders in that stage over the summer, but just 230 showed up at induction centers.
A landmark High Court ruling in June said there was no longer any legal framework allowing the state to refrain from drafting Haredi yeshiva students into military service.
The attorney general then ordered the government to immediately begin the process of conscription for 3,000 men, with an expectation that the numbers will rise as time goes on.
The IDF has said it will act in accordance with the law, and that those who ignore multiple draft orders will be prevented from leaving the country and may face arrest.
There have been no reports of such arrests being carried out so far.
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. This group is in addition to some 1,800 Haredi soldiers who are already drafted annually.
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 non-combat roles.
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 intensified since the October 7, 2023, Hamas onslaught and the ensuing war, in which more than 780 soldiers have been killed and some 300,000 citizens called up to reserve duty.
This past year, 70,000 Haredi males were listed as eligible for military service.
