Attorney general’s office instructs IDF to also draft full-time yeshiva students

The Israeli Attorney General’s Office announced on Wednesday that the Israel Defense Forces should begin drafting full-time yeshiva students, in addition to young ultra-Orthodox men who do not study the Torah and are active in the workforce.

The decision by the attorney general (AG) office comes amid growing tensions between mainstream Israeli society and segments of the ultra-religious Jewish community.

In his letter to the IDF, Deputy Attorney General Gil Limon wrote that the IDF “must act immediately to implement the ruling on the recruitment of yeshiva students who are required to do military service, in accordance with the needs of the army and its capabilities,” reported the Kikar Hashabbat news site.

Limon noted: “The High Court determined that at this time, there is no legal infrastructure to prevent the enlistment of Haredi yeshiva students and the state must act to enforce the provisions of the Security Service Law in their case.”

In July, the Israeli military issued recruitment orders to ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) men via SMS messaging with about 3,000 candidates expected to enlist within 4 weeks. The unusual move by the IDF came after the Israeli Supreme Court had ruled that previous service exemptions for ultra-Orthodox men were illegal.

The ongoing war with Iran and its terror proxy groups, Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, has caused some pundits to argue that the IDF needs to expand its capabilities to meet current and future security challenges. There are currently over 60,000 Haredi yeshiva students who are eligible for military service and, therefore, viewed as an important asset

A small but growing number of ultra-Orthodox Jews now serve in the IDF. The Oct. Hamas 7 invasion and attack reportedly led to an increase in voluntarily ultra-Orthodox military enlistment. The Haredi community itself is currently divided between modern and traditional segments.

One Tel Aviv University professor, Dr. Nechumi Yaffe, who leads the Tatia Haredi think tank, previously estimated at around 50% of the Haredi society could be viewed as “modern” or at least somehow connected to the larger mainstream Israeli society.

However, much of the ultra-Orthodox establishment is still opposed to military enlistment. On Thursday, radical ultra-Orthodox protesters blocked a major highway in central Israel for three hours in opposition to the the IDF draft. According to Ynet news, the protesters chanted slogans like, “We will die and not enlist” and “To prison and not to the army.” Some radical protesters even blasted ultra-Orthodox Border Police officers. 

“You enlisted to the Zionists? It would be better if you enlisted to Hamas – there they don’t fight the Torah.” 

A majority of the Israeli public reportedly favors recruitment of ultra-Orthodox into the military.

In June, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Col. Herzi Halevi praised the ultra-Orthodox Netzah Yehuda IDF Battalion and called for expanded recruitment among the Haredi community.

"The IDF needs more fighters," Halevi said. "We want you to show that it's possible to be a Haredi fighter, to study and protect the state's security. Continue doing a good job, protecting the residents here and also being a pioneer – haredi fighters, each one as he defines himself."

However, the issue of Haredi military enlistment is complicated by the fact that the current Netanyahu government depends on two ultra-Orthodox parties that oppose military enlistment for their communities.