The Israeli High Court of Justice has given the government until the end of January to clarify its plans for increasing Chareidi enlistment in the Israel Defense Forces and enforcing penalties for those avoiding the draft.
This order came after multiple petitions were submitted, demanding that all Chareidi men who were previously exempt from service be immediately conscripted.
The court highlighted that approximately 80,000 Chareidi men who are eligible for service have not yet been recruited. It expressed concern that the gap between the number of Chareidi recruits called up and those who actually enlist could prevent the government from meeting its recruitment goals for the current year.
In response, the state informed the court last week that the IDF can accommodate 4,800 Chareidi recruits for the enlistment year ending in June, with a projected capacity of 5,700 for 2025. Beginning in 2026, the military expects to have no limit on the number of Chareidi soldiers it can enlist.
However, incorporating a large number of Chareidi soldiers into the IDF will require considerable adjustments, including a change in how recruits are evaluated. Current Initial Psychotechnical Rating tests have been deemed unsuitable for Chareidi recruits.
Despite the increased capacity, the IDF has struggled to meet its recruitment targets. Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara conveyed to the court that expanding Chareidi participation in the military represents “an extraordinary practical, command and professional challenge.”
The High Court’s order requests specific information about the measures that will be implemented to ensure Chareidi men are drafted, including details about how the state plans to enforce conscription for those who fail to report when summoned.
The government has until January 30 to provide its response.
In a landmark decision in June 2024, the High Court ruled unanimously that the government must begin drafting Chareidi yeshiva students, as there is no longer any legal justification for the longstanding practice of exempting them from military service.
Since the ruling, thousands of enlistment orders have been issued, but very few Chareidi men have actually enlisted, with most still avoiding military service.
Chareidi community leaders remain staunchly opposed to conscription, fearing it will lead to the secularization of their young men.
According to data presented by state officials in court and during a Knesset hearing, between July and October 2024, 3,000 enlistment orders were sent out, yet only about 400 individuals reported to the IDF enlistment offices, and roughly 70 actually completed the enlistment process.
This low enlistment rate has sparked frustration among the judges. Justice Noam Sohlberg expressed anger, remarking that he and his colleagues were “outraged that there are 85,000 Chareidi men of military age who are not enlisting,” as reported by Walla news.
Justice Daphne Barak Erez also questioned the government’s strategy, asking how it planned to meet its goal of drafting 4,800 Chareidi men “if enforcement measures are only taken half a year after the enlistment order is issued.”
Reports from Hebrew-language media suggest that Defense Minister Yisroel Katz attempted to delay the government’s response due to a conflict between the IDF’s position, which supports unlimited recruitment of Chareidi men, and the government’s position, which aims to pass legislation that would appease Chareidi political parties.
Katz is set to present his much-anticipated proposal for Chareidi military conscription to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Tuesday.
A statement from committee chairman Yuli Edelstein’s office indicates that Katz’s proposed compromise bill will outline principles for increasing Chareidi enlistment while also legally protecting the status of full-time yeshiva students who would remain exempt from service.
Under pressure from the Chareidi Shas and United Torah Judaism parties, the government is working to pass a bill that would raise Chareidi enlistment numbers but still maintain the broad exemption from military or national service that the community has enjoyed for decades.
{Matzav.com Israel}