The Israel Defense Forces said on Friday morning it initiated unspecified “proceedings” against Haredi Jewish men who have not reported for enlistment.
“An IDF recruit who has not reported for enlistment in accordance with the provisions of the order he received will be considered to have committed an offense of unauthorized absence from service, and is expected to face criminal sanctions,” the army said.
“The IDF is the people’s army and acts professionally and state-wide to recruit all those required to enlist, in accordance with the law and the directives of the political echelon,” the army added. The IDF is investing great efforts to recruit ultra-Orthodox members under conditions that will allow them to maintain their lifestyle and beliefs.”
The military is reported to have sent 1,000 warrant notices that would prevent individuals who ignored draft orders from leaving the country.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi and Defense Minister Israel Katz are scheduled to brief the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively on the principles behind their plans to enlist Haredi men. Katz recently told the committee the rate of Haredim inducted into service should be raised gradually over time. Katz said his target goal was to have 50% of Israel’s draft-eligible Haredim serving in 2032.
But committee chairman MK Yuli Edelstein said that Israel “doesn’t have the time or the luxury to wait any longer. The army needs many fighters.”
Said Edelstein, “The committee I chair will only issue a law for recruitment in high numbers, one that will bring an increase in recruitment and appropriate sanctions” for draft evaders.
The military began making plans to draft yeshiva students after Israel’s High Court of Justice ruled in June that exemptions for the Haredi community were illegal. The issue has not been resolved and is contributing to a coalition crisis.
Military service is compulsory for all Israeli citizens. However, Israel’s first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, and the country’s leading rabbis agreed to a status quo that deferred military service for Haredi men studying in yeshivot, or religious institutions. At the time, no more than several hundred men were studying in yeshivot.
However, the Ultra-Orthodox community has grown significantly since Israel’s founding. In January 2023, the Central Bureau of Statistics reported that Haredim are Israel’s fastest-growing community and projected it would constitute 16% of the population by the end of the decade. According to the Israel Democracy Institute, the number of yeshiva students exceeded 138,000 in 2021.
A recent survey found that the Israeli public is shifting decisively in favor of integrating Orthodox Jews into military service. The Israel Democracy Institute found that only 9% of Israelis support the current arrangement exempting Haredim from military service, a steep decline from 22% ten months earlier.
