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military draft

Rabbi Dov Lando in Bnei Brak, August 21, 2025. (Sam Sokol/Times of Israel)
October 6, 2026, 1:14 am
Top Haredi rabbi denounces Israeli state, religious soldiers; opposition rebukes him, notes ties to Netanyahu
Rabbi Dov Lando, an influential figure in the United Torah Judaism party, says Zionism ‘made Arabs hate us’ and Arab rule would have been preferable to establishment of state
By Stav Levaton and 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
Shas party chief Aryeh Deri (left) and Yashar head Gadi Eisenkot seen at the funeral of Lt. Col. Roee Yohay Yosef Mordechay at Kiryat Shaul Military Cemetery, on January 7, 2024. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)
August 21, 2026, 2:59 pm
Eisenkot threatens to siphon traditional voters away from a panicking Shas
Fearing a mass voter exodus over the draft crisis, Aryeh Deri staged a show of unity with Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef to save his party from a humiliating collapse
By Shalom Yerushalmi
US President Donald Trump (R) shakes hands with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as Trump listens to a question from a reporter at the end of a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, on December 29, 2025, in Palm Beach, Florida. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon/File)
August 10, 2026, 11:57 pm
Netanyahu reserves Likud spot for candidate who recently called Trump a ‘morally corrupt piece of shit’
Oren Dobronsky, who slammed US president over Iran MOU, attempts damage control, calling him Israel’s ‘greatest friend’ in White House; PM’s party to seat its first-ever Haredi MK
By Ariela Karmel, Sam Sokol and ToI Staff
MK Yoav Segalovitz attends a Constitution, Law and Justice Committee meeting at the Knesset on October 20, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
August 3, 2026, 10:37 am
Segalovitz will only join Ra’am if it recognizes Israel as a Jewish state
MK Yoav Segalovitz’s vision of shared destiny hinges on Mansour Abbas. If successful, he could prove the Arab party he joins is more Zionist than the ultra-Orthodox
By Shalom Yerushalmi
Ultra-Orthodox Jews protest against the drafting of Haredi youth to the Israeli army, in Jerusalem, July 15, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
July 15, 2026, 7:01 pm
Haredim protest at IDF induction centers against peers who enlist
Demonstrators gather at Tel Hashomer and Jerusalem recruitment sites, block roads, as some 140 community members set to join the military
By Charlie Summers and ToI Staff
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) speaks to United Torah Judaism lawmakers Moshe Gafni (right) and Yitzhak Goldknopf in the Knesset plenum in Jerusalem, July 1, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
July 11, 2026, 11:43 pm
Coalition aims to pass raft of contentious bills in final week before Knesset dissolution
Legislation includes declaring Torah study a ‘foundational value,’ banning arrest of ultra-Orthodox draft evaders; unclear if bill establishing political Oct. 7 probe will pass in time
By ToI Staff and Ariela Karmel
MK Moshe Gafni attends Finance committee meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, April 29, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
June 9, 2026, 10:37 pm
Finance Committee moves to restore daycare subsidies for ultra-Orthodox draft dodgers
New bill would only consider the employment status of a child’s mother, no longer examine the father’s eligibility for conscription; Finance, Justice ministries oppose legislation
By Ariela Karmel and ToI Staff
Smashed windows are seen at the home of Supreme Court Deputy Chief Justice Noam Sohlberg in the settlement of Alon Shvut following a riot by Haredi demonstrators, June 3, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90); inset: Supreme Court Deputy President Noam Sohlberg at a court hearing, February 2, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
June 4, 2026, 1:04 am
‘A pogrom’: Haredi rioters smash windows, damage home of deputy Supreme Court chief
Dozens nabbed after attempt to break into Noam Sohlberg’s house, with wife likening shattering of windows to Kristallnacht; Herzog decries ‘dangerous crossing of red line’
By Alexander Fulbright
Protesters block traffic on Route 4, near the Ganot Interchange in central Israel, as they demonstrate against the arrest of ultra-Orthodox draft evaders, on June 1, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
June 1, 2026, 8:36 pm
Mass ultra-Orthodox protests block roads, halt traffic over arrest of draft dodgers
Public transport heavily impacted as protesters climb onto railway tracks in central Israel, block Jerusalem light rail; protester hit by motorcyclist, seriously injured on Route 4
By Sam Sokol and Shira Silkoff
A Haredi protester being arrested in Beit Shemesh during protests at the police station on May 31, 2026. (Screentshot/X/ Yishai Cohen/Israel Police)
June 1, 2026, 1:13 pm
Dozens break into Beit Shemesh police station after arrest of Haredi draft dodger
Eight people arrested after rioters forced open the gate to the compound and set fire to nearby brush
By Sam Sokol and ToI Staff
IDF troops of the Golani Brigade operate in southern Lebanon, in a handout photo issued on April 27, 2026. (Israel Defense Forces)
May 17, 2026, 8:43 pm
IDF warns of severe personnel shortages, last window to solve crisis with legislation
Military says still missing 12,000 troops, with gap to widen further in coming year, government’s draft bill won’t provide adequate solution
By Emanuel Fabian
An ultra-Orthodox man is arrested by police during riots following an assault on two female Israeli soldiers in Bnei Brak, central Israel, February 15, 2026. (Flash90)
February 17, 2026, 10:45 am
Bnei Brak riot shows that to integrate Haredim, Israel should expect strife
A recent study found that by 2050, nearly one in four Israelis will be ultra-Orthodox; leaders have only started to grapple with how that will change the country
By Ben Sales
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men block a road and clash with police during a protest sparked by the deaths of two babies in an unauthorized daycare in Jerusalem, January 19, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
January 20, 2026, 3:17 pm
Daily Briefing Jan. 20: Day 837 – Tragic deaths of 2 Haredi babies fuels fury against IDF draft
Editor David Horovitz on how countries are responding to Trump’s ‘BYOB’ — bring your own billion — for his Board of Peace invitees, and observations from three weeks in Japan
By Amanda Borschel-Dan and David Horovitz
A plenum session at the Knesset, January 14, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
January 15, 2026, 6:00 pm
Coalition blocks protection for Haredi soldiers as anti-draft rhetoric intensifies
Rejection of anti-incitement bill, silence from ultra-Orthodox leaders, and bereaved father saying he’d rather his son die than serve in IDF reflect increasingly radical atmosphere
By Ariela Karmel
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