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army exemptions

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi at a press conference at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, on September 28, 2023 (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
November 28, 2025, 5:01 pm
Haredi draft exemption bill ‘endangers Israel’s future,’ says PM’s former security adviser
Hanegbi says legislation ‘enables evasion’; head of NGO supporting Haredi soldiers calls for major changes, says bill lacks structured plan for integration
By ToI Staff
Ultra-Orthodox men sit on a bridge overlooking the crowd during a protest by ultra-Orthodox Jews against conscription into Israel's military in Jerusalem on October 30, 2025. (AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)
October 30, 2025, 9:54 pm
‘My children would rather go to jail’: Haredi protesters insist Torah study must come first
‘We have been fighting in the way our ancestors taught us, through prayer and Torah study,’ says Jerusalem rally participant; others claim IDF doesn’t need them, say struggle heralds Messianic redemption
By Zev Stub
Combination photo showing Religious Zionism MK Simcha Rothman (L) and Attorney General Gali Bahrav-Miara at a Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee meeting, in Jerusalem, September 30, 2025. (Oren Ben Hakoon/Flash90)
October 19, 2025, 9:41 am
Rothman said planning to fast-track bill that would split AG’s role into 2 jobs
Coalition official fears Haredi parties may block bill over failure to approve IDF exemptions for yeshiva students; Rothman: It’ll solve ‘inherent conflict of interest’ in current role
By ToI Staff
Religious women protest for the recruitment of ultra-Orthodox Jews into the IDF, at the entrance to Jerusalem, November 11, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/ Flash90)
March 26, 2025, 2:55 am
Religious Zionist Israelis growing increasingly critical of Haredim, new survey shows
Poll says that just over half of religious Zionists recognize ultra-Orthodox contributions to society, down since last year, as more respondents want to see ‘equal burden-bearing’
By Rossella Tercatin
A Haredi man places tefillin on a soldier in the Old City of Jerusalem, June 25, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
July 24, 2024, 4:32 am
As 1,000 IDF draft orders are sent out, most Haredim adopt a wait-and-see attitude
In an ultra-Orthodox community in Haifa, would-be conscripts appear unperturbed by the strongest challenge yet to their decades-long free pass
By Canaan Lidor
Thousands of ultra-Orthodox men protest against the drafting of Haredim to the IDF, Jerusalem, April 11, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
April 11, 2024, 9:52 pm
AG to government: ‘No legal basis’ for continuing to exempt Haredim from IDF
Baharav-Miara rebuffs state request for separate representation in High Court cases on the issue; thousands of Haredim protest outside IDF enlistment center in Jerusalem
By ToI Staff
An ultra-Orthodox man holds a poster bearing a portrait of former prime minister and Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu, during a Likud party campaign rally on October 20, 2022, at the Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem ahead of the November general elections. (MENAHEM KAHANA / AFP)
September 7, 2023, 1:49 pm
Likud members said to object to Haredi draft law, potentially imperiling government
Amid warnings by ultra-Orthodox parties that coalition will collapse without greater military exemptions for their community, reports signal growing pushback against divisive plan
By Michael Bachner
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leads a cabinet meeting, at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem on August 20, 2023. Justice Minister Yariv Levin is at left. (Olivier Fitoussi/POOL)
September 6, 2023, 4:19 pm
Netanyahu is begging for an overhaul lifeline. Nobody wants to give him a way out
Up to his neck in trouble, the premier would be thrilled to compromise on the judiciary makeover, but those he needs behind him see little reason to help him out
By Shalom Yerushalmi
Likud's Benjamin Netanyahu, right, with UTJ MK Moshe Gafni in the Knesset on December 28, 2022. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)
August 21, 2023, 12:10 am
No breakthrough in coalition heads’ meeting on Haredi draft bill, as tensions remain
Sides reportedly agree to lower public profile of talks, but continue anonymous mudslinging in press, as Likud edgy about passing such unpopular legislation during overhaul
By ToI Staff
Illustrative: Religious Zionism head Bezalel Smotrich (standing) with United Torah Judaism leader Yitzchak Goldknopf at the Knesset on November 21, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
May 18, 2023, 11:18 am
Haredi faction threatens to oppose state budget if NIS 600 million demand not met
Agudat Yisrael, part of UTJ, says it wants more funding for full-time religious scholars and their families, in line with coalition deals; coalition official: ‘There’s a limit’
By Carrie Keller-Lynn and ToI Staff
Likud party chairman Benjamin Netanyahu, right, shakes hands with United Torah Judaism party leader Yitzhak Goldknopf in the Knesset plenum in Jerusalem on November 21, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90)
May 17, 2023, 9:08 am
Haredi parties said to demand hundreds of millions more to back budget
Agudat Yisrael faction reportedly seeking additional funds for education in exchange for its support, threatens to renew ultimatum on draft exemption law
By ToI Staff and Sharon Wrobel
Right-wing Israelis attend a rally in support of plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to overhaul the judicial system, outside the Knesset, Israel's parliament in Jerusalem, Thursday, April 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
April 29, 2023, 4:14 pm
Pro-overhaul protest showed the right’s strengths — and the government’s weakness
Likud voters want gov’t to focus on declining economy, Haredi parties want draft exemption law, religious Zionist voters want continued judicial reform. Can PM satisfy them all?
By Haviv Rettig Gur
J.J Gross
May 2, 2018, 2:32 pm
J.J Gross
To stop Haredi army shirkers: inspect yeshivas
To draft the fraudsters who ‘learn Torah’ to avoid army service, checking attendance is a good start
File: An effigy of an ultra-Orthodox soldier seized by police in an ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Jerusalem on Purim, March 2, 2018 (Israel Police)
March 21, 2018, 9:24 am
Defense minister, Yesh Atid chief go on attack after Haredim burn soldier effigy
Extremists in Mea Shearim neighborhood of Jerusalem torch soldier’s likeness in street protest; Lapid accuses government of ‘standing silent’
By ToI Staff
Michael Boyden
March 13, 2018, 1:14 pm
Michael Boyden
Torah study equals army service? Not even close
We whose family members have died in Israel’s wars don’t happen to think Haredim ‘kill’ themselves learning
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