Due to shortage of soldiers caused by ultra-Orthodox draft issue, Israel considers diaspora recruitment drive

A report on Army Radio Monday morning says that due to the severe shortage of soldiers, the IDF is considering reaching out to Jewish communities in the diaspora to increase recruitment. 

The current shortage is estimated at 10-12,000 soldiers in all fields to meet operational requirements, with the government failure to find a solution to the ultra-Orthodox draft leading the military to try other means to replenish its ranks. 

On Sunday, the IDF announced “Operation Fresh Start,” which aims to offer non-Haredi draft dodgers the chance to enlist without facing any punishment for previous failure to appear after receiving recruitment orders. 

The program does not apply to the more than 10,000 ultra-Orthodox men who ignored enlistment orders issued last year, following the High Court’s ruling that the government must begin drafting Haredi men of eligible age. In recent days, the military has arrested several ultra-Orthodox draft dodgers, but it maintains that the Haredi draft issue cannot be resolved by enforcement alone.

Monday morning, a report in Army Radio stated that in order to overcome the shortage, the IDF intends to reach out to the large Jewish communities in the diaspora, hoping to encourage the enlistment of Jewish youth of conscription age, willing to come to Israel to serve in the IDF. 

According to research by the IDF’s Manpower Directorate, the recruitment potential among 18- to 25-year-olds in major Jewish diaspora communities is over 10,000.

A senior IDF official said that the target the IDF intends to reach is an increase of about 600-700 soldiers each year from the diaspora. The official said that initial efforts will focus on communities in the United States and France. 

On Monday, the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee narrowly passed an extension of an emergency military call-up order allowing the military to call up to 430,000 reservists ahead of a campaign to take over Gaza City. The extension will only last until Sept. 4. 

The outcome of the vote was not clear after the exit of the ultra-Orthodox parties from the coalition last month, and the removal of former committee chairman Yuli Edelstein, who was sacked by Netanyahu in an attempt to woo the Haredi parties back into the coalition. 

The emergency extension is a controversial move among Israeli society, with many reserve soldiers complaining of burnout after serving multiple duty periods within the past 22 months. 

Opposition leader Yair Lapid slammed the government for not solving the ultra-Orthodox draft issue, and targeting reservists instead. 

“The worst government in the country’s history is once again issuing draft orders to the same people who have already served 400 and 500 days of reserve duty, while at the same time continuing to sponsor ultra-Orthodox draft evasion,” Lapid wrote to social media. 

Right-wing opposition party leader, Avigdor Lieberman, head of Israel Beitenu, also attacked the government over the issue, writing on X that “the draft-dodging government is betraying soldiers time and again just to maintain its alliance with the ultra-Orthodox dealmakers in the Knesset.”