Expert Analysis
By Alan Schneider, Director, B’nai B’rith World Center – Jerusalem
As someone who served three years of mandatory service in the Israeli army, followed by some 25 years in combat reserves—including stints on the outskirts of Beirut during the1982 Lebanon War and in Bethlehem during the First Intifada (1987)—any Israeli who has not served in the Israel Defense Forces or has not done an authorized form of National Service, will find it very hard to gain my respect. My years in the reserves ended involuntarily when, as an overaged volunteer, I turned down a call-up during the forced displacement of 8,000 Israeli civilians from their homes, institutions and businesses in Gaza and Northern Samaria during the 2005 “Disengagement.” But I am vicariously still very much engaged, as three of my children—reservists now themselves—are back in uniform since early October. Two are currently fighting in Gaza, while the other provides close intelligence support.
The issue of Israel’s Haredi yeshiva draft exemption, which was instituted by David Ben-Gurion at the founding of the state, has been a tremendously explosive issue for decades; it has never been as raw as during the current war against Hamas.
Once again, the Haredi community is exempt from the bereavement and pain experienced by so many families as they bury loved ones—members of the security forces who engaged Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7 and bravely fought in Gaza and other fronts since then—or accompany them through long periods of rehabilitation after being wounded in combat. With such an oversized proportion of the fallen and wounded being adherents to the national-religious—albeit non-Haredi—lifestyle, the argument that Haredi men would lose their identity if drafted is seen by many as shallow, disingenuous, grossly unpatriotic and callous in the face of the army’s clear immediate need for at least 10,000 additional troops. With the sounds of war so loud, the mantra of ultra-Orthodox representatives—that their community is overrepresented in volunteerism and charitable activities for the community at large (most notably in the grim areas of body recovery and identification and emergency medical services etc.) and should therefore be exempt from conscription or awarded for their ascetic devotion to Halacha—that buys the country god’s grace—falls increasingly on deaf ears. A poll taken before the court’s exemption law decision showed that 64% of Israels, including Arabs, thought the military service law should be changed, compared to only 19% of ultra-Orthodox respondents.
Haredi rejection of the draft evokes a range of attitudes. At a recent meeting in the Knesset of the Hebrew Diplomatic Club (a forum of Hebrew-speaking foreign diplomates established last year by the B’nai B’rith World Center) representatives of the Shas Sepharadi ultra-Orthodox party presented a benign approach to envoys from seven countries. They argued that every citizen in Israel should be allowed to contribute to society in the way they see fit, without coercion. The Haredi political leadership has insisted that the exemption be extended for those engaged in Torah study, while others who work or are only nominally registered at yeshivot should serve. Other rabbis and community leaders take a more militant approach, rejecting the notion of a Jewish state out of hand and accusing it of consistently endeavoring to break the Haredi community and force them into secularism. They have warned potential inductees that the IDF will not keep promises to create and maintain unique Haredi units that will allow them to maintain their lifestyle. Moderate figures in the community, such as Rabbi David Leibel who advocates for Haredi integration in society and defense and leaders of the Nahal Haredi army program have been vilified by extremists and even physically attacked.
Arguments against drafting Haredi men abound, citing practical and ideological burdens it would pose for the IDF, from the need to provide basic conditions that will allow them to serve that include special kosher supervisions of food and banishing women from their units (in the face of calls for even greater gender integration). There is also a lack of motivation and even antagonism toward the army among many Haredim, imbued by leading rabbis who have called on potential conscripts to prefer exile from Israel or even death to serving in the IDF.
These two battlegrounds—the kinetic one against Hamas in Gaza that is putting such strain on IDF manpower and the legal battle by those who view the Haredim as the greatest untapped source of combat soldiers (after nearly 700 have been killed in battle since Oct. 7 and over 5,000 wounded)—are ongoing. These issues are running concurrently with overlapping campaigns to secure the release of the remaining 115 hostages held by Hamas at any cost and to unseat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by pushing for early elections.
On June 25, while the war raged, Israel’s High Court of Justice issued a unanimous, nine-member landmark ruling, forcing the government’s hand to draft all eligible ultra-Orthodox into the military. The decision seemingly turned on a technicality: could the government (as opposed to the legislature) decide to exempt Haredim from conscription in violation of the Defense Service Law, which, as of June 30, 2023, no longer made any distinction between Haredi and non-Haredi army-age males?
Fifty years after it was first petitioned to rule on such exemptions, the court found that since no legal framework remained in place allowing the government to refrain from drafting 63,000 eligible Haredim, it must issue them call-up notices. The court found that “violation of the principle of equality in this context will amount to [prohibited A.S.] selective enforcement.”
Though based on technicalities, the court’s decision was not detached from the crisis that ensued from the Simchat Torah massacre: “In this situation, the non-enforcement of the Defense Service Law creates severe discrimination between those required to serve and those who are not subject to drafting procedures. As stated in another case, ‘Discrimination regarding the most precious thing—life itself—is the harshest form of discrimination.’ ”
Notably, the court also ruled that the government has no authority to transfer funds to yeshivas and Haredi educational institutions for students who did not receive an exemption from army service or whose service has not been deferred according to the law. The court found that these funds were tied to the terms of the IDF service exemptions, which no longer exist. This decision will eliminate hundreds of millions of shekels in state funding for Haredi institutions that are reliant on these funds for their very survival.
At the same time, the court refrained from specifying how the IDF should implement the call-up. It did not rule on whether the Attorney General’s affidavit, stating that the IDF could only draft 3,000 Haredi soldiers this year (in addition to 1,800 that enlist voluntarily), would meet the principle of “equality” if challenged by the anti-Haredi alliance. Acting quickly under the court’s ruling, the IDF has already dispatched the first batch of 900 call-up notices that came due this Monday and Tuesday. Only 48 potential inductees actually showed up as ordered, registering a striking blow to the IDF’s efforts. Violent demonstrations by extremist elements in the Haredi community took place outside IDF induction centers near Tel Aviv and succeeded in scaring off others who might have turned up. The notices have a 45-day expiration date, after which recipients who do not present themselves could face consequences for being absent without leave. Haredi leaders from all stream—Hasidim, Sephardim and Lita’im—have all called to ignore the notices and established a telephone hotline for personalized legal advice.
The political turmoil the court decision has caused has amplified the general din in the country. The Coalition is reliant on two ultra-Orthodox parties that could bring down the government if ongoing efforts in the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee to garner a broad majority for legislation that would set the exemption age for mandatory service for Haredi yeshiva students at 21 (down from 26), while “very slowly” increasing ultra-Orthodox conscription ultimately fails. Indeed, finding a formula that will satisfy ultra-Orthodox Yahadut HaTorah, Shas, Likud renegades National Religious Otzma Yehudit and Zionist Judaism, will be formidable. This formula will likely seek to fill the IDF’s manpower gap with Haredim who are formally registered as Yeshiva students, but in reality, do little, if any studying in practice or are even gainfully employed.
In the meantime, calls by some ultra-Orthodox rabbis to ignore the call-up notices do not bode well. Images of Haredi youngsters being forcibly hauled to military prison or barricaded in yeshivot at a time of existential threat to the state and people of Israel are unlikely to lead to a net benefit for the IDF and will undoubtedly amplify the strife among this long-challenged nation. This will be the test period for the IDF to create credible frameworks in which large numbers of Haredim can serve while maintaining their way of life.
Alan Schneider is the director of B’nai B’rith World Center in Jerusalem, which serves as the hub of B’nai B’rith International activities in Israel. The World Center is the key link between Israel and B’nai B’rith members and supporters around the world. To view some of his additional content, click here.