New recordings indicate Haredi rabbis see conscription law merely as way to buy time

Senior ultra-Orthodox spiritual leaders appear to regard efforts to legislate and regulate Haredi conscription as a stalling tactic only intended to buy time, openly stating that they have no plans to allow Haredi youth to enlist in the Israel Defense Forces, according to recordings of conversations aired on Wednesday evening.

In the recordings broadcast by Channel 12 news, Rabbi Moshe Hillel Hirsch, one of the senior leaders of the stream of ultra-Orthodox Jewry known as “Lithuanian,” says the law is meant to put off any real change, rather than fundamentally influence enlistment patterns.

“In the end, the law will fall after a few years, but we’ve gained years,” he is heard saying.

Meanwhile, Degel HaTorah spiritual leader Rabbi Dov Lando is also heard speaking, and even more bluntly, about the legislation, in response to a visitor to his home appearing to express concern over the bill.

“What they are saying is nonsense. It won’t happen. We will not go to the army,” Lando is heard saying. “No one will go to the army.”

At one point, Lando gets irritated, apparently by the guest’s repeated questions, and yells, “Nobody will go!”

Rabbi Shraga Shteinman, who sits on Degel HaTorah’s ruling Council of Torah Sages, appeared not to be concerned about the conscription of students in a recorded conversation.

“Laws were passed three times, and the High Court of Justice struck them down. This will also be struck down, but it will take two years. After that, they’ll do another law,” he says in the recording.

“We need to push the cart along until the messiah comes,” he adds.

Rabbi Yehuda Cohen, a member of the Shas Council of Torah Sages, is also asked about the bill by a visitor in his home who is concerned that “50 percent of the Torah world will need to draft to the army,” according to recordings.

“What they say doesn’t interest anyone,” Cohen says in the recordings. “Nobody will send anyone.”

Cohen also insists that the legislative process is designed to “buy time” for an alternative situation to be created.

Asked if it was forbidden for a man who does not learn Torah to go to the army, Cohen said: “Of course, of course. There is no doubt.”

The recorded comments are in stark contrast to the picture painted by coalition architects of the legislation, who insist it will significantly increase Haredi enlistment in the coming years.

Critics, including the IDF brass and attorney general, have objected to the bill on the grounds that it is full of loopholes and will not increase Haredi enlistment, while hardline Haredi elements object to legislation conscripting or sanctioning any members of their community.

Some 80,000 ultra-Orthodox men aged between 18 and 24 are currently believed to be eligible for military service, but have not enlisted. The IDF has said it urgently needs 12,000 recruits due to the strain on standing and reserve forces caused by the war against Hamas in Gaza and other military challenges.

The IDF has sent out tens of thousands of enlistment orders to previously exempt Haredim since 2024, when the High Court of Justice ruled that the decades-long blanket exemptions from army duty traditionally afforded to full-time Haredi yeshiva students were illegal.

Since then, yeshivas harboring draft dodgers have seen their budgets slashed, and draft refusers have lost access to daycare subsidies for their children and other benefits. The military has also increased enforcement against evaders, arresting yeshiva students and holding them in military prisons.

Earlier this week, Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs told ministers that the government’s ultra-Orthodox draft regulation bill could be sent to the Knesset plenum in the next few weeks, paving the way for the final two votes before the controversial legislation becomes law.