'It’s possible to combine Haredi lifestyle with combat' - ultra-Orthodox IDF soldiers recount Gaza fighting amid draft law controversy

Amid the ongoing controversy over the recruitment of ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) men into the Israeli army, it is easy to forget that a small number of them are already serving in the IDF, many of whom have seen active combat in the Gaza Strip in recent months.

One such unit is the “Hetz” (arrow) company, part of the 202nd Battalion of the regular Paratroopers Brigade. which has been active almost continuously since the war began in the southern Gaza Strip.

Speaking to Ynet News recently, some of the Hetz soldiers recounted the extraordinary experiences the company went through, including three highly unusual incidents in the span of only two days.

“We’ve been on our feet and fighting since October 7, covering all sectors of the Gaza Strip, from Shajaiyah and Zeitoun in Gaza City to Khan Younis,” said Lieutenant Avichai Ben Ami.

He explained that, on one fateful day, the battalion “launched an attack on the Jabaliya camp at dawn, encountering combat unlike anything we had faced before: Every house was booby-trapped, and we fought a well-organized enemy. By the end of three weeks, everything was dismantled thanks to our operation.”

The sequence of events began in a bittersweet way when a team of soldiers, led by Captain Roy Beit Yaakov, uncovered a tunnel shaft containing the bodies of three Israeli hostages in one of the homes.

“We gained a lot of experience in combat, and Roy’s team was skilled in locating evidence,” Ben Ami said.

“He searched thoroughly inside a suspicious house, initially finding nothing. Then he noticed a rolled-up rug with something odd in the center. Carefully moving the rug, he revealed a cable leading to a suspicious ten-meter-deep shaft with suspicious signs and immediately called in the Yahalom and Shin Bet teams.”

The commando units later found the bodies of Orión Hernández Radoux (30), Hanan Yablonka (42) and Michel Nisenbaum (59) in the tunnel.

The next morning, the company commander, Maj. Gal Shabbat, was shot in the head during a mission. He was critically wounded and died three days later.

“We closed in on the target, and the terrorist spotted Gal and his command team for a split second and fired a burst,” recounted his deputy Capt. Shlomo Cohen, who immediately took over the role and continued leading the company.

“We evacuated him quickly, and no one stopped. It didn't affect the company because they are strong. I took command of the ongoing attack and announced over the radio that I was now in charge. I rushed to the scene from another position where I had been as the deputy, not getting a chance to see Gal, who was quickly moved into an evacuation vehicle,” Cohen said.

Just hours later, the next tragedy struck when a fatal mistake in identification led troops from the 82nd Armored Battalion to fire two tank shells at a building containing soldiers of Hetz company.

“I heard the two explosions. Some soldiers managed to escape the building before the next shell hit, thereby saving themselves. After evacuating the casualties, each commander gathered their team for a talk, and we decided to keep fighting despite what we had been through that day,” Cohen said.

Five soldiers were killed and seven wounded in the incident, including Lt. Roy Beit Yaakov, who had led the team that discovered the hostage bodies the day before.

Cohen continued, “The very next day, we received a new attack mission. I don’t think any military unit has experienced such a sequence of events in such a short time, but we emerged stronger.”

After this highly unusual and tragic series of events, the Paratroopers Brigade deployed a team of mental health officers to support the soldiers of Hetz company, but Cohen stressed that they would continue with their mission.

“I told the battalion commander that we have a strong company that will keep moving forward and that he could rely on us.”

With the company now regrouping and preparing for its next mission outside of the Gaza Strip, they are exposed to the political discussion raging around the recent High Court decision to halt army service exemptions for their Haredi brothers who prefer to continue their studies in a yeshiva.

“Those who come to the Paratroopers’ Haredi Hetz company are yeshiva students or those who finished yeshiva because it didn’t work out for them,” Cohen explained.

“We can hold Torah study sessions even in Gaza, and we have soldiers who received study materials to take into the Gaza Strip and found time for it. Of course, we also held prayer services. It’s not far-fetched, we even have supportive rabbis. Whoever wants to enlist can enlist, and whoever wants to study Torah can study Torah.”

Ben Ami concurred, saying: “We have guys from backgrounds that don’t typically lead to military or combat service. Some come from Haredi backgrounds and some pay the price of family estrangement because of the war. The Haredi public has undergone a change during this war. We also have many lone soldiers who came from the U.S. and France, some from religious or Haredi backgrounds.”

“Before each entry into Gaza, we distribute booklets and radios for Torah study and make sure to observe the Sabbath even in enemy territory,” he added.

“The true sanctification of God is to fight and complete the operational missions. It’s absolutely possible to combine the Haredi lifestyle with combat service. Gal, a secular commander, was always curious about the religion and ensured we maintained it here even more than we did, even as religious or Haredi soldiers.”