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universal enlistment

Ultra-Orthodox protesters block a road at the entrance of Jerusalem during a protest against the jailing of yeshiva students who failed to comply with an army recruitment order, April 29, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
April 29, 2026, 9:55 pm
Haredi yeshivas with draft dodgers will no longer receive tax-exempt donations, AG says
Baharav-Miara determines that tax exemption indirectly finances yeshivas with draft dodgers and ‘encourages evasion,’ but says implementation will take time
By Jeremy Sharon
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara at a Constitution, Law and Justice Committee meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem, September 30, 2025. (Oren Ben Hakoon/ Flash90)
March 30, 2026, 9:10 pm
AG halts transfer of budget funds for Haredi institutions after contentious vote
Gali Baharav-Miara says parliamentary ruse used to approve the funds was designed to circumvent High Court ruling barring financial benefits for Haredi draft dodgers
By Jeremy Sharon and Sam Sokol
Dr. Gilad Malach (courtesy) superimposed over a photo of ultra-Orthodox Jews from the two rival factions of the Ponevezh Yeshiva in Bnei Brak, November 19, 2025. (Erik Marmor/Flash90)
December 2, 2025, 9:40 pm
Dr. Gilad Malach: Haredi draft bill is a wedge issue for a divided nation
As the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee debates a new bill aimed at regulating Haredi draft exemptions, Israel Democracy Institute research fellow explains its evolution
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Ultra-Orthodox Jews protest against conscription into the Israel Defense Forces, in Jerusalem on October 30, 2025. (Eli Katzoff/The Times of Israel)
October 30, 2025, 11:37 pm
Ultra-Orthodox fight against IDF service
On October 30, 2025, some 200,000 Haredi men flood Jerusalem in protest against conscription into the IDF, clashing with police
Travelers walk with their luggage following the announcement of a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, at Ben Gurion Airport, near Tel Aviv, June 25, 2025. (AP/Ohad Zwigenberg)
September 17, 2025, 8:16 pm
Another 25 Haredi draft dodgers said detained at airport trying to head to Uman
Extremist anti-enlistment group says more than 70 ultra-Orthodox evaders currently in military custody, with figure set to increase in coming days
By Sam Sokol
Likud MK Boaz Bismuth chairs a meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, August 12, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
August 12, 2025, 7:57 pm
After replacing head of key defense panel, coalition launches new push for Haredi draft bill
Government source expresses optimism regarding possibility of compromise with ultra-Orthodox parties. MK Porush: ‘Anyone who sits and studies should get a deferment from the army’
By Sam Sokol
Likud MK Yuli Edelstein chairs a meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, July 1, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
July 3, 2025, 5:27 pm
Edelstein expected to present revised Haredi enlistment bill in coming days
Shas, UTJ boycotting private coalition member bills to pressure government, Haredi lawmakers said to consult with their rabbis to discuss ‘intensifying measures’
By Sam Sokol
Israeli children visit their reservist father in Southern Israel, December 17, 2023. (Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images via JTA)
May 30, 2025, 5:27 am
As IDF raises reservist call-up cap to 450,000, weary troops decry low Haredi enlistment
Prolonged deployments since Oct. 7 have harmed the economy and the mental health, family relationships and careers of reservists, while exemptions keep ultra-Orthodox off the front lines
By Deborah Danan
Hozrim Betvuna founder Naor Narkis, right, speaks with a passerby in the largely ultra-Orthodox central Israeli city of Bnei Brak, May 2025. (Alexandra Vardi)
May 24, 2025, 8:02 am
Venturing into Haredi enclaves, an Israeli atheist tries a new form of Jewish outreach
Naor Narkis has launched a movement to help members of the insular ultra-Orthodox community explore other options – an initiative, he says, that aims to thwart a demographic crisis
By Alexandra Vardi
Yeshiva students listen to a Torah lesson at the Hebron Yeshiva in Jerusalem on August 16, 2018. (Aharon Krohn/Flash90)
May 23, 2025, 8:26 am
Friday Focus with Sam Sokol: Why Haredim see themselves as warriors
ToI’s political correspondent delves into the ethos of Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community and their battle against serving in the military
By Amanda Borschel-Dan and Sam Sokol
United Torah Judaism MKs hold a faction meeting in the Knesset, January 27, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
May 8, 2025, 9:50 am
‘The final deadline’: Could the IDF conscription crisis bring down Netanyahu’s government?
Without a bill shielding Haredim from the draft, the Knesset’s ultra-Orthodox parties are weighing tactics from boycotting votes on coalition legislation to toppling the government
By Sam Sokol
Laly Derai in an undated photo. (Courtesy)
January 13, 2025, 4:45 pm
The mother of a fallen IDF soldier continues his crusade for universal IDF enlistment
Ahead of a crucial Tuesday Knesset meeting, Laly Derai is advocating for an end to military exemptions for the Haredi community after son Saadia Derai was killed in action in Gaza
By Deborah Danan
Israeli soldiers and ultra-Orthodox Jews at the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site in the Old City of Jerusalem, July 10, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
January 8, 2025, 2:24 pm
Daily Briefing Jan. 8: Day 460 – IDF needs Haredi soldiers, but can it accommodate them?
Military reporter Emanuel Fabian speaks about new efforts and challenges the army faces even as the attorney general calls for drastically ramping up number of ultra-Orthodox recruits
By Amanda Borschel-Dan and Emanuel Fabian
A member of the Haredi community near a protest against the drafting of ultra-Orthodox Jews outside an IDF recruitment center in Jerusalem, October 31, 2024. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
November 24, 2024, 6:19 pm
Haredim in favor of IDF service insist only carrots, not sticks, will draw more recruits
As the military issues the first of 7,000 new conscription notices, communal leaders say soldiers coerced into service are liabilities: ‘They would be destroyed in Lebanon or Gaza’
By Mati Wagner
Rabbi Elazar Menachem Man Shach, 1990. (Moshe Shai/FLASH90)
November 19, 2024, 6:43 pm
Thousands are flocking to the grave of a Haredi leader. His former aide says he’d hate it
On the anniversary of Rabbi Elazar Shach’s death, his burial place has become a prayer hub where adherents denounce newly issued military draft orders for Haredim
By Mati Wagner
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