Three-fold increase reported in ultra-Orthodox seeking jobs

Just seven months after its passage, a law mandating military or civil service for members of the Haredi community is being praised for leading to a steep rise in the number of ultra-Orthodox Israelis entering the labor market.

Government figures presented to lawmakers showed a three-fold increase in the number of Haredi men seeking work through government agencies compared to last year, the Walla news site reported Tuesday.

The numbers were presented to the Peri Committee, the Knesset committee headed by Science Minister Yaacov Peri that is overseeing implementation of the so-called Equal Service Law, and could represent a turning points in state efforts to increase Haredi participation in the job market.

In the first half of 2013, 734 ultra-Orthodox men turned to Economy Ministry employment centers looking for work. The same period this year saw a three-fold jump to 2,135.

According to the figures show that fully half of this year’s Haredi male job-seekers (from January to June) are aged 18-27, the ages of the yeshiva students who are now allowed to work under the Equal Service Law.

The law, passed in February this year, sought to end the practice of mass-Haredi draft avoidance under the Tal Law. Under the old rules, Haredi men could avoid military or national service by spending as many as eight years in full-time yeshiva study.

The reprieve from national service was conditioned on the sustained yeshiva study, a measure that was meant to prevent fraud but, say critics, ended up locking tens of thousands of young men out of the labor force.

The new law ended the active study requirement for those who do not enlist, but set minimum enlistment quotas for men attending Haredi educational institutions and criminal penalties for those who avoid enlistment.

The new figures are a much-needed political victory for Finance Minister Yair Lapid, whose Yesh Atid party was one of the bill’s most enthusiastic architects and supporters.

“In a few months, tens of thousands of Haredim will receive notices that they can leave the yeshivas and integrate into the workforce,” Lapid enthused on Facebook in February.

The bill was projected to add “tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox to the workforce, who currently survive on state pensions, and bring about a dramatic increase in the number of ultra-Orthodox serving in the military and civil service,” Yesh Atid MK Ofer Shelah said at the time.

Yesh Atid MKs made these predictions even as many analysts and commentators chastised the bill for including criminal penalties against ideological draft-dodgers, and the delayed implementation of its criminal stipulations until 2017.

The figures may be only the tip of the iceberg. They represent only those who have sought out state agencies for help finding work. Many more yeshiva students may have gone to work without requiring that help.

The employment centers offer professional training, a critical factor for enabling Haredi employment, as many who grow up in the yeshiva system have reported finding themselves lacking basic skills required for the modern workforce, such as English or computer skills.

“These are dramatic figures for the Haredi community, but even more so for the state of Israel,” said Economy Minister Naftali Bennett, who chairs the Jewish Home party, which partnered with Yesh Atid in advancing the new enlistment law.

“Put simply, we’re talking about a drop in the number of Israelis who aren’t working and the addition of excellent working hands to the economy,” he told Walla. “When it comes to the Haredi community, of course, we’re [also] talking about another step toward integration into Israeli society. This is a community of excellence, and it is in all our interest that it be able to contribute while preserving its unique identity.”