Following the October 7 attack and the Operation Iron Swords, there has been a surge in the number of Haredi recruits in the IDF. On Thursday, Haredi youths arrived at the IDF Tel Hashomer absorption center with more than half of them planning to enlist for combat service in the Netzah Yehuda Battalion, the Tomer Squadron of the Givati Brigade, the Hetz Squadron of the Paratroopers Brigade, the new Border Guard Haredi Company, and the Air Force Negev Squadron.
For comparison, last November only about 200 Haredim enlisted. The current enlistment numbers have increased significantly, and May’s recruitment cycle marks a record number of Haredim entering the IDF.
Simcha Figa, a 19-year-old Gur Hasid from Brooklyn who came to Israel especially to enlist in the Netzah Yehuda Battalion, said that he decided to enlist because of the war. His family supports his move, but they are fearful, hearing every day about soldiers who are killed in the war. “I feel a sense of mission to go and defend the State of Israel,” Simcha declared.
The Netzah Yehuda Association expressed great satisfaction with the current recruitment numbers that have climbed thanks to the combined work of the IDF Haredi Directorate, the Security Social Division at the Defense Ministry, the Ground Forces, and the Netzah Yehuda Association.
According to the Netzah Yehuda Association, the increase in the recruitment of Haredim to the IDF is the result of hard work among the recruiters with every Haredi youth receiving his first enlistment order, conveying to them the importance of protecting the state and the Jewish people with a combined Safra and Saifa (learning and fighting) and the strict observance of the commandments.
Netzah Yehuda Association CEO Yossi Levi said, “Over the past six months we’ve been saying in every possible venue that more Haredim can be recruited into the IDF, the state just has to decide that it wants to. We have been working in the past two years to establish preparatory frameworks for the IDF such as a course in cooperation with the Hedvata Association, the Nitzotz Be’emuna (Spark of Faith) preparatory school, and the Nezah David combat Haredi Hesder yeshiva, and other quality pre-military courses for Haredi youth, in cooperation with the Defense Ministry.”
“All of the above has impacted the quantity and quality of Haredi recruits in the IDF,” Levi concluded.
