Ultra-Orthodox incensed as IDF chief orders boost in community’s conscription
Citing war developments, Eyal Zamir tells army to ‘expand and maximize’ draft notices; push reportedly aimed at up to 80,000 young men; DM Katz said to have been unaware of the order
Due to developments in the Gaza war, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir has instructed the Personnel Directorate to immediately provide a plan to “expand and maximize” the number of draft orders sent to members of the ultra-Orthodox community, the military said Tuesday.
Zamir also instructed the Personnel Directorate to figure out how to better integrate recruits from the ultra-Orthodox, or Haredi, community, it said.
No further details were provided.
Ultra-Orthodox parties in the coalition were reportedly furious at the move, which was aimed at providing the army with up to 80,000 potential conscripts, according to Hebrew media reports.
It came amid coalition-busting tensions between the Haredi members of the government and the rest of the coalition over the issue of drafting ultra-Orthodox young men. Earlier this week, the coalition’s two Haredi parties said they would boycott votes on coalition legislation on Wednesday, in protest of the government’s failure to pass a bill exempting yeshiva students from military service.
The army has recently issued tens of thousands of call-up orders for IDF reservists ahead of a planned major offensive in the Gaza Strip. Many reservists have already served over 300 days since the war began on October 7, 2023, when the Palestinian terror group Hamas led a devastating invasion of southern Israel that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and saw 251 abducted as hostages to the Gaza Strip.
Zamir issued the draft plan order without coordinating with either Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or Defense Minister Israel Katz, the Ynet news site reported.
Katz swiftly explained to Haredi coalition parties that he had been unaware of the order, the report said, without citing sources.
A senior source from United Torah Judaism, one of the two Haredi coalition parties, told Ynet said that the conscription orders were “nothing more than a symbolic step aimed at dividing people.” “Everyone knows that these orders have no real practical meaning,” he said, asserting that potential conscripts would obey their rabbis and stay out of the army.
An unidentified senior figure from the Haredi parties, in remarks to the media, accused Zamir and Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman Yuli Edelstein of “lighting a fire” and “pouring oil on it.”
Edelstein, whose committee is overseeing the bill regulating the Haredi military draft, has long stood as a barrier to the controversial legislation’s passage, personally signing a declaration of principles calling for mass mobilization of Haredi men as well as the imposition of “personal and financial sanctions” on those who fail to obey draft orders.
The Shoulder to Shoulder social activism group said in a statement that it backs Zamir and urged the army chief to “act decisively.”
The Brothers in Arms activism group also backed Zamir, but said in a statement that, since previous declarations of mass Haredi drafts have not materialized, “we will wait to see action on the ground.”
In light of the threats by United Torah Judaism and Shas, the other Haredi party, to boycott votes on coalition legislation, the government will not bring any private member bills to the Knesset on Wednesday.
According to Channel 12, the Haredi parties were still willing to cooperate with the coalition in voting down opposition bills.
On Monday, UTJ appeared to threaten to withdraw from the government completely over the enlistment issue, with MK Yaakov Asher telling Haredi news site Kikar HaShabbat that if the Knesset does not pass draft exemption legislation by the end of the summer session, his party will no longer be able to remain in the government.
Edelstein on Tuesday announced that discussions on the proposed ultra-Orthodox enlistment bill have been completed and work to rewrite the legislation is set to begin.
The bill being discussed has already passed its first reading in the Knesset and is currently in committee in order to be prepared for the final two readings necessary for it to become law.
Netanyahu is scheduled to attend a closed session of Edelstein’s committee next week to discuss the issue.
The IDF will soon complete sending out a total of 24,000 draft orders to Haredi men, an effort that began last summer, though very few of them have so far enlisted.
Despite the army aiming to recruit 4,800 Haredi men during the 2024-2025 draft cycle, only around 1,821 have enlisted thus far.
The army has stated that it is facing a manpower shortage and currently needs some 12,000 new soldiers — 7,000 of whom would be combat troops.
Currently, approximately 80,000 Haredi men between the ages of 18 and 24 are eligible for military service and have not enlisted.
Blanket draft exemptions for the ultra-Orthodox public have become exceedingly unpopular even within the coalition, in light of the IDF’s manpower squeeze during the ongoing war and the strain it has put on society.
Netanyahu’s ultra-Orthodox coalition partners have been pushing for the passage of legislation enshrining military exemptions for yeshiva students and other members of the Haredi community, after the High Court ruled in June last year that the dispensations, in place for decades, were illegal, since they were not based in law.
Sam Sokol contributed to this report.
The Times of Israel Community.