Israeli army calls up 1,000 ultra-Orthodox Jews for service

According to a report by the Walla website, the first batch included 1,000 people between the ages of 18 and 26, while new army summons orders will be issued for two other batches scheduled over the next four weeks.

While prominent ultra-Orthodox rabbis have urged yeshiva students to ignore any communications from the IDF, the military said last week that orders would be sent to individuals it believes will actually show up at the induction center.

Commenting on the decision, opposition leader Yair Lapid said in a post on his X account: “.. The recruitment into the Israeli army is not a program as you demand, but also an existential security need. There will be a need to recruit at least 10,000 ultra-Orthodox youth, and they must be recruited quickly, already this year.”

He added: “We will move through the committee to the Ministry of Defense, and we will make sure that enough orders are sent so that there are enough soldiers.”

The 3,000 Haredi Jews include men who have jobs, are enrolled in higher education institutions, or hold driver’s licenses, indications that they are not participating in full-time yeshiva studies, despite having previously received exemptions to study, the Israeli military said.

The orders, which are the first stage in the army’s screening and evaluation process for these men before they are drafted into the army next year, come after a landmark ruling by Israel’s Supreme Court last month.

The Supreme Court said in its ruling that there is no longer any legal framework that allows the state to refrain from recruiting Haredi yeshiva students into military service.

Following the court ruling, the government was ordered to immediately begin recruiting 3,000 Haredi men, a number the army said it could handle at this initial stage.

Of these 3,000, 15 percent are married, the rest are single, and most of the single recruits will likely be for combat roles.

According to Israeli military data, 50 percent of the group to be recruited are between the ages of 18 and 21, another 40 percent are between the ages of 22 and 23, and 10 percent are between the ages of 24 and 26.

Military service is mandatory for Jewish men and women in Israel, while religious people are exempted, in order to devote themselves to studying in religious institutes and preserving the identity of the people.

The Haredim, who adhere to a strict interpretation of Jewish law and live in isolated communities, say their study of the Torah is as much about protecting the country as military service.

Source: The Times of Israel + RT