'We don’t have the time or the luxury to wait any longer'

Panel head Edelstein rejects Katz plan for gradual increase in Haredi conscription

‘The committee I chair will only issue a law for recruitment in high numbers, with a corresponding increase in the scope of recruitment and sanctions,’ Likud MK declares

Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"

Defense Minister Israel Katz and MK Yuli Edelstein discuss ultra-Orthodox conscription at a meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, January 14, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Defense Minister Israel Katz and MK Yuli Edelstein discuss ultra-Orthodox conscription at a meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, January 14, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Likud MK Yuli Edelstein on Thursday dismissed Defense Minister Israel Katz’s plan to gradually increase the number of ultra-Orthodox recruits over the next seven years as a solution for the crisis surrounding the Haredi draft, declaring that he “will not settle for a temporary solution or a process that will take many years.”

In a video message following a tour of the Israel Defense Forces’ new ultra-Orthodox Hasmonean Brigade’s training base, Edelstein, who is the chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, said that Israel “doesn’t have the time or the luxury to wait any longer. The army needs many fighters.”

“The committee I chair will only issue a law for recruitment in high numbers, one that will bring an increase in recruitment and appropriate sanctions [for draft dodgers],” he insisted.

During a hearing at Edelstein’s committee earlier this week, Katz pushed back against the military’s assertion that it will soon be able to conscript ultra-Orthodox men without restriction, telling lawmakers that the number of Haredim drafted into the military should be increased gradually year-over-year until it hits 50 percent of the annual eligible Haredi draft cohort in 2032.

The IDF has said it will have the capacity to absorb Haredim “without any restrictions” starting in 2026.

Katz listed two nonnegotiable criteria that any legislation dealing with the issue would have to meet to win his support: that Haredim would engage in “real and significant service while safeguarding their lifestyle,” and that new policies will preserve the “Torah world” — the network of full-time yeshivas that form the backbone of ultra-Orthodox society.

Ultra-Orthodox Jews protest against the military draft outside the IDF Recruitment Center at Tel Hashomer, in central Israel, January 16, 2025. (Itai Ron/Flash90)

He also insisted that any legislation regulating ultra-Orthodox enlistment be advanced with the agreement of that community’s leadership.

Responding to criticism from lawmakers that his enlistment plan contradicts the IDF’s estimates regarding enlistment capacity, Katz told the committee that “the ability to recruit and absorb are two different things.”

“The ability to recruit in practice is related to areas of agreement with the leaders of the Haredi community and the existence of a law that regulates the status of Torah scholars. Without a legal arrangement, the ability to absorb them is only on paper,” Katz argued. “It is important in my opinion to promote legislation that is based on dialogue and agreement, including by Haredi public leaders.”

In a unanimous landmark ruling in June, the High Court of Justice said the government would have to draft ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students into the military since there was no longer any legal framework to continue the decades-long practice of granting them blanket exemptions from army service.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose governing majority depends on the support of the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism and Shas parties, has been seeking to meet their demand for a bill that broadly maintains their wide-scale exemption from IDF or other national service.

Katz replaced Yoav Gallant as defense minister in November, with Netanyahu firing the latter over multiple disagreements, including Gallant’s refusal to promote a Haredi draft bill that would not significantly increase the number of soldiers.

However, Edelstein has proven a fresh stumbling block, insisting that the needs of the IDF must come first and that the panel would only advance the legislation if lawmakers can reach a “broad consensus” on the matter.

The issue became particularly pertinent as the IDF has faced significant manpower shortages throughout the 15 months of war in Gaza and on other fronts.

Edelstein’s rejection of Katz’s proposal came shortly after the Likud lawmaker’s spokesman announced that the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee would continue its discussion with the defense minister at a follow-up hearing next Wednesday, a day after hearing from IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi in a closed session.

Lt. Col. Avigdor Dickstein (left), who is in charge of encouraging ultra-Orthodox enlistment, and Brig. Gen. Shay Tayeb (right), head of the IDF Personnel Directorate’s Planning and Personnel Management Division, at the Knesset State Control Committee, January 7, 2025. (Noam Moskowitz, Office of the Knesset Spokesperson)

Ultra-Orthodox leaders have characterized efforts to conscript members of their community as an attack on religion and have argued that even those not engaged in full-time Torah study should not enlist.

In recent months, thousands of draft orders have gone out but few Haredim have enlisted, with the overwhelming majority of those eligible for military service remaining out of the army.

Maj. Gen. David Zini, the head of the IDF’s Training Command (left), greets an ultra-Orthodox soldier drafting to the IDF’s new Haredi brigade, known as the Hasmonean Brigade, January 5, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)

Expressing hope that the Haredi parties will be able to arrive at an agreement with Katz and Edelstein on the law’s text, Religious Services Minister Michael Malkieli (Shas) told the Haredi radio station Kol Berama on Thursday morning that Netanyahu “understands politics” and “the significance of the enlistment law for the Haredi public,” which “entered the government for this law.”

“The ultra-Orthodox parties will topple the government when [top rabbis] instruct them to do so,” he warned.

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