X CLOSE
Call of Duty
The Military Service for Israeli Ultra-Orthodox men
At the beginning of June 2024, the Israeli Parliament, the Knesset, approved the draft to end the Military Service exemption for ultra-Orthodox Jews. As a consequence of the October 7th Hamas attack, and the escalation over the northern border with Lebanon, the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) will potentially find itself involved with a double front conflict.
Religious men of military age have been able to avoid being conscripted to the IDF for decades by enrolling in Yeshiva school, and obtaining repeated one-year service deferrals until they reach the age of military exemption. The Haredim, the more conservative fringe of Orthodox Judaism, counts over 60.000 men registered as Yeshiva students solely focused on study of the Torah books, and on the preservation of the Orthodox traditions.
At first, the forced conscription will oblige 3.000 students to join the IDF for 36 months, moreover the Supreme Court plans to recruit larger numbers in coming years. Students are concerned about being forced to fight, disrespecting of religious precepts, and being precluded of receiving the ultra-Orthodox dedicated economic support, granted from the government for decades.
Ultra-Orthodox Jews make up for about 13% of the Israeli population and their political representatives are part of the Government coalition. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu heavily relies on their support in order to maintain a viable government alliance.