Thousands of Israelis rally for shared burden of military service amid multifront war

Thousands of Israelis took to the streets of Jerusalem on Wednesday to protest the exemption of ultra-Orthodox Israelis from mandatory military service, demanding that the principle of equal responsibility be upheld.

The protest comes at a time when Israel is still engaged in a complex, multifront war against Iran and its terror proxies – Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthi rebels in Yemen. Many demonstrators, including a significant number of religious Zionists, are calling for ultra-Orthodox Israelis to be drafted into the IDF alongside their secular and national-religious peers.

Sylvie and Yinon Tsuriely from Jerusalem have four children who serve in the Israel Defense Forces and have consequently experienced many sleepless nights since the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

“We have three sons and one daughter, ages 21 to 29,” Yinon told The Times of Israel. “The three eldest are all reservists, and the youngest is an officer. They were all drafted as soon as the war started. Two of our sons served in Gaza, one in the north, and our daughter is in aviation.”

Like many other Israeli families with children serving in the IDF, the Tsuriely couple is upset that most ultra-Orthodox Jews do not serve in the Israeli army.

“In this catastrophic situation, everyone needs to serve in the army,” Yinon argued. “We are also religious. I come from a family of rabbis, but everyone in our family serves,” he added.

His wife agreed. “We cannot go on like this,” Sylvie said, holding a sign stating, “Are your brothers to go to war while you stay here?” The quote is a reference to the Bible, where Moses responds to the Israelite tribes who did not want to enter the land of Israel after the Exodus from Egypt.

Unlike many ultra-Orthodox Jewish leaders, Yinon stressed that studying the Jewish Torah and serving in the military can coexist.

“Learning Torah does not contradict serving in the army,” he argued.  “Even our forefather Moses said so. My children continued to study Torah as they were in Gaza and Lebanon, but the most important mitzvah [commandment] is to save our people, save lives.”

Laly Derai, who has become a public face for the equal enlistment movement, specifically addressed the ultra-Orthodox (Haredim) community in a speech.

“Haredim, my brothers, be our brothers according to the word of God, not according to what the newspaper Hamodia says,” Derai said, referring to the popular ultra-Orthodox news outlet.  

“Sanctify God’s name because this [serving in the army] is what God requires from us,” she continued. “The disagreement between us is not a matter of Torah, because the Torah states clearly what we need to do. It is an ideological and political disagreement.”

While a growing minority of ultra-Orthodox Israeli Jews enlist in the IDF, the majority currently do not serve in the army due to religious, political and ideological reasons. Many ultra-Orthodox leaders are opposed to military service, claiming that it will alienate young ultra-Orthodox Jews from the conservative and insular ultra-Orthodox lifestyle.

In late January, Shas party leader Aryeh Deri said that if the coalition fails to pass a law exempting yeshiva students from military service by the end of March, the government would collapse. 

During a visit to the ultra-Orthodox IDF Netzah Yehuda Battalion in June 2024, former IDF Chief of Staff Lt-Col. Herzi Halevi stressed that the Israeli army needs more combat soldiers to face multifront security challenges.

"The IDF needs more fighters," IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi told them. "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."