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draft evasion

Shas chairman Aryeh Deri attends a vote in the Knesset in Jerusalem on July 16, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Deri says like UTJ, Shas won’t join next government without a draft exemption law
By Ariela Karmel
Haredi leader's comments draw rebukes from Bennett and Liberman, who warn voting for such a govenrment would lead to greater burden on IDF reservists
Ultra-Orthodox Jews take part in a procession celebrating draft dodgers following their release from military prison, in Jerusalem on September 29, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
September 30, 2026, 1:18 am
Thousands march in Jerusalem to fete Haredi draft dodgers; cash grants promised
Marchers carry signs calling the IDF an ‘enemy army’ and denouncing ‘the altar of Zionism,’ drawing condemnations from opposition leaders amid political battle over conscription
By ToI Staff
Screen captures from video of a homecoming event in Bnei Brak from ultra-Orthodox draft dodgers who were released from military prison, September 27, 2026. (Daniel Grovais via X)
September 28, 2026, 5:30 pm
Homecoming procession held in Bnei Brak for 160 draft dodgers released from prison
News crews say they were attacked by participants, forced to leave the area; organizer ‘Color Black,’ a new political party, has made army exemptions for ultra-Orthodox its central aim
By ToI Staff
Illustrative: Jewish yeshiva students study at the Kamenitz Yeshiva, in Jerusalem on August 19, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
September 18, 2026, 7:35 pm
US-based Haredi charity says it’s raised $130 million for Israeli draft evaders’ yeshivas
Keren Olam HaTorah says its goal is to raise $12 million each month to sustain 1,489 Haredi institutes and 350,000 yeshiva students and their families
By ToI Staff
Ultra-Orthodox Jews protest the army draft outside Tel HaShomer army base in Ramat Gan, August 31, 2026. (Avshalom Sassoni/FLASH90)
August 31, 2026, 3:08 pm
Haredi anti-draft protesters block roads at IDF induction center for second day
Protests come as IDF prepares to receive hundreds of ultra-Orthodox recruits; several demonstrators hold signs saying ‘it was better to die as a Jew in the Holocaust than to spiritually die in IDF camps’
By ToI Staff
A video posted to social media by the IDF Personnel Directorate, then deleted, advises draft-dodgers on how to remedy their status and avoid being blocked from leaving the country, August 26, 2026. (Screenshot)
August 27, 2026, 12:23 pm
IDF posts, deletes AI video telling Haredi draft dodgers how to evade ban on traveling abroad
Personnel Directorate uploads AI-generated PSA explaining the initial step they can take toward enlistment in order to evade bar on leaving country; rabbis have reportedly advised followers to do just that, and not enlist
By Emanuel Fabian
Illustrative: Jewish yeshiva students study at the Kamenitz Yeshiva, in Jerusalem on August 19, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
August 20, 2026, 7:51 pm
Government data said to show Haredim far likelier than other Jews to get state subsidies
Finance Ministry officials reportedly tell AG ultra-Orthodox family has 72% chance to qualify for municipal property tax discount, as opposed to 17% chance for other Jewish households
By ToI Staff
Ultra-Orthodox men clash with police during a protest against military enlistment, Bnei Brak, August 8, 2026. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
August 19, 2026, 10:03 am
AG says government must up enforcement against draft evaders, 83% of whom are Haredim
Gali Baharav-Miara notes fewer than 10% of indictments this year targeted ultra-Orthodox evaders; Haredi faction leader: She has no authority
By Sam Sokol and ToI Staff
Haredi Jews block traffic during a protest against the arrest of an ultra-Orthodox draft dodger, on Route 4 near Bnei Brak, August 12, 2026. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
August 12, 2026, 8:19 pm
‘Make the earth shake’: Haredi protesters don yellow stars, block roads after draft evader’s arrest
Protesters sit in front of traffic on stretch of Route 4 outside of Bnei Brak; soldier escorted to safety by police after mob surrounds him, calls him ‘f–k up’
By Noam Lehmann and ToI Staff
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (center), Justice Minister Yariv Levin (left), and Defense Minister Israel Katz (right), with ultra-Orthodox MKs Yitzchak Goldknopf, Moshe Gafni and Meir Porush behind them, seen in the Knesset shortly before the vote on a law banning arrests of ultra-Orthodox draft dodgers and legitimizing ongoing mass ultra-Orthodox non-enlistment, July 14, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
August 2, 2026, 5:10 pm
Opposition pans Netanyahu ‘spin’ as he distances himself from Haredi draft evasion law
PM reportedly says he will not pursue further legislation seeking to exempt ultra-Orthodox draft dodgers from arrest; Bennett: He ‘thinks the serving public is dumb’
By Sam Sokol
A group of ultra-Orthodox males harass several off-duty soldiers walking in Jerusalem, July 30, 2026. (Screenshots/Yaakov Hershkovitz via X)
July 31, 2026, 6:05 am
Off-duty soldiers, Border Police attacked in Jerusalem by dozens of Haredi men
Assailants were attending rally celebrating the release of 63 people arrested during recent attack on home of deputy Supreme Court chief to protest the arrest of draft dodgers
By ToI Staff
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (center) together with fellow Likud ministers Yariv Levin (left) and Shlomo Karhi (right) attend a Knesset plenum session at which a law boosting government authority over media was passed, July 16, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
July 17, 2026, 9:50 am
Coalition’s ‘legislative blitz’ is designed to shore-up, unshackle right-wing power
Raft of contentious laws passed this week increases power of right-wing media, throws off attorney general’s legal restraints, and keeps the Haredim inside Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc
By Jeremy Sharon
Shas chair Aryeh Deri (left) attends a Knesset plenum session and a vote on a bill to split the duties and powers of the attorney general, on July 15, 2026 (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90); IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir attends a ceremony marking the 50th anniversary of Operation Entebbe at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem, July 12, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
July 16, 2026, 5:11 pm
Deri accuses IDF chief of election interference for opposing ban on arresting draft dodgers
Shas chair, a member of key security cabinet, claims Zamir harmed the army by speaking out against law benefiting Haredi evaders, says he no longer recognizes High Court’s authority after it froze legislation
By Ariela Karmel and ToI Staff
MK Yitzhak Goldknopf, center, alongside Likud's Justice Minister Yariv Levin, left, and Defense Minister Israel Katz, right, during a Knesset vote on a bill to freeze arrests of Haredi draft evaders in Jerusalem, July 14, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
July 16, 2026, 4:50 pm
Pyrrhic victory on law banning arrests of draft dodgers could cost Netanyahu coalition at ballot box
Likud and its allies went to mat for an unpopular law meant to shield ultra-Orthodox from military conscription, losing vital support in the name of legislation that is already on its way to being struck down
By Tal Schneider
Likud MK Dan Illouz attends a plenum session in Knesset, July 15, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
July 16, 2026, 8:15 am
Likud MK resigns, says a third of party MKs wanted to oust Netanyahu after Oct. 7
Dan Illouz says Likud has been ‘hijacked’ by Haredi interests: Efforts to enshrine draft exemption are a ‘disgrace that made it clear to me that my place is no longer in Likud’
By ToI Staff
Immigration and Absorption Minister Ofir Sofer holds a press conference at the Knesset in Jerusalem, December 1, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
July 15, 2026, 8:02 pm
Right-wing minister critical of Haredi draft exemption efforts says won’t seek reelection
Religious Zionism’s Ofir Sofer said leaving politics over coalition’s efforts to okay exemptions for Yeshiva students, day after Knesset passed law to halt arrests of draft evaders
By ToI Staff
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