Israeli Defense Minister Confirms Orthodox Recruitment PlanIsraeli Defense Minister Confirms Orthodox Recruitment Plan Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced that the military will begin conscripting strictly Orthodox men into the country’s armed forces next month. The decision follows the Supreme Court’s ruling last month that the government must draft this segment of the population into the military. After meeting with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, Gallant approved the IDF’s recommendation to issue draft orders to Orthodox community members in the coming month. The recruitment effort will be accompanied by an awareness campaign within the community. The decision aims to balance the need for operational readiness with preserving the strict Orthodox lifestyle and gradually increasing the number of recruits. The Supreme Court emphasized that there is no legal basis for the current exemption scheme and called the delay in recruitment “unconstitutional.” Despite objections from strict Orthodox believers who view military service as a threat to their religious practices, the recent Hamas attack and subsequent war have raised public demands that all citizens contribute to the nation’s defense. The government’s draft law currently under consideration attempts to find a compromise with Orthodox parties, but it remains uncertain whether the Charedi parties will support the bill if passed by the Knesset. However, they have reportedly indicated that they would back Netanyahu if the court imposes a solution. The Supreme Court’s ruling and the government’s efforts to address the issue highlight the ongoing debate about the balance between individual religious preferences and the responsibility to serve the nation in Israel.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant confirmed Tuesday that the military will begin recruiting strictly Orthodox men to serve in the country’s armed forces next month.
The announcement came after the minister met with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi and other senior military officials to discuss preparations for the conscription of Haredi Jews in light of the Supreme Court’s historic ruling last month that the government must conscript this segment of the civilian population into the military.
After the meeting, Gallant “approved the IDF’s recommendation to issue (draft) orders next month” to members of the strictly Orthodox community, “in accordance with the (IDF’s) absorption and screening capabilities, and after a significant process of refining existing data on potential recruits has been conducted,” his office said in a statement.
A campaign to raise awareness of the new policy in the strictly Orthodox community will be timed to coincide with the recruitment efforts and will be launched in the coming month.
The statement said that Gallant and Halevi “concluded in the discussion that this is an operational need and a complex social problem. One must act on the principle of ‘successful recruitment’ to achieve significant service for members of the strictly Orthodox sector, while preserving their lifestyle, and to bring an increasing number of recruits into an orderly process.”
Israel’s Supreme Court ruled 9-0 on June 25 that the government must recruit strictly Orthodox men into the military.
“The Supreme Court unanimously ruled that there is currently no legal framework that would allow for the distinction between yeshiva students and others” with regard to mandatory military service, the two-page ruling by the nine-judge panel said. As such, the state has no authority to prevent their recruitment, it continued.
Furthermore, there is no legal mechanism to support their exemption from military service. “It is not possible to continue to transfer support funds for yeshivahs and kollels to students who have not been exempted or whose military service has not been postponed,” the ruling said.
The court called the current exemption scheme, which grants yeshiva students a temporary reprieve until they reach the age at which they are exempted from military service, “unconstitutional.”
The document ends by accusing the government of “seriously undermining the rule of law and the principle that all people are equal before the law” by continuing to delay the recruitment of strictly Orthodox men.
The petitioners argued that the state should enroll yeshiva students because the law exempting them from compulsory service expired last year. The government representative asked the court to reject the petitions and instead allow the Knesset to continue the legislative process toward a solution, but the court refused.
Israel’s strict Orthodox believers view military service as a distraction from Torah study and a threat to their way of life. However, the Hamas attack on October 7 and the ensuing war have reinforced public demands that Haredim do their part to defend the nation.
The draft law currently before the Knesset reflects Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s attempt to find an agreed formula with the strictly Orthodox parties (Shas and United Torah Judaism). These parties have threatened to leave the government if most Haredi yeshiva students are drafted.
The Charedi parties have for years been the most stable element of Netanyahu’s right-wing bloc, their steadfastness won by the prime minister’s willingness to continue funding their seminaries and providing other benefits. Charedi political leaders have reportedly told Netanyahu that if he passes a law they disagree with, they will leave his government, but that if it is the court that imposes a solution, they will support him.
The ruling followed a heated hearing the day before in the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, where lawmakers debated Netanyahu’s recruitment bill (originally introduced by Benny Gantz, leader of the National Unity Party, in the previous government).
