'I don't need to tell Haredi men to enlist' Ultra-Orthodox party leader says IDF doesn’t want religious soldiers

Ultra-Orthodox Shas party leader Aryeh Deri appeared on an interview with a Haredi radio station, where he said he didn’t need to tell Haredi men to enlist in the military. 

During an interview with ultra-Orthodox radio station Kol Barama, the Sephardic Shas party leader, and longtime political partner of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, addressed the issue of Haredi enlistment. He said the military does not really want ultra-Orthodox soldiers. 

Asked by the interviewer if he would call young Haredi men who do not study in a yeshiva to enlist, Deri responded in the negative. 

“I don’t need to call for that,” Deri stated. “The IDF which knows how to bomb Iran knows how to deal with them, let it deal with them.” 

“The IDF doesn’t want Haredi soldiers, get that into your head,” Deri continued. “This causes it [IDF] a big headache. It wants a secular army, not an army that listens to the rabbis.” 

Deri's remarks continued his July attack on IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir. 

At that time, the Shas chairman said that Zamir “lost it. What the chief of staff did during an election period, he tried to help the left-wing bloc, unequivocally! He must not engage in politics. This is a very dangerous precedent. He caused great damage to the army!” 

Deri also said that calls for Haredi enlistment are “a very big deception,” based on miscalculations by the army on the value and role of technology in the military. 

“Now that the big failure of a 'small and technological army' has been revealed, it suddenly becomes clear that more soldiers are needed to guard the borders,” Deri claimed. 

He said the decision on whether young Haredi men who do not study should enlist in the military is a decision to be made by “the rabbis.” 

In the interview, Deri also claimed that there are “no real tracks in the army” for ultra-Orthodox men. When asked about the recently founded Hasmonean Brigade for Haredi soldiers, Deri admitted, “I didn't check it out. That's why there are the great leaders of Israel,” referring to the rabbinical councils. 

The Hasmonean Brigade was established by the IDF to enable Haredi soldiers to serve in the military while maintaining an observant ultra-Orthodox lifestyle. 

In 2025, there was a near doubling of the number of Haredi soldiers enlisting compared to the previous year (4,298 in 2025 compared to 2,811 in 2024), which Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara attributed to the opening of a dedicated track for ultra-Orthodox soldiers, alongside sanctions and arrests for draft dodgers. 

After the release of the interview, Deri’s comments were immediately criticized by opposition politicians. 

Former Prime Minster Naftali Bennett accused Deri of “harming IDF soldiers.” 

“While Netanyahu is slandering IDF commanders with blood libels - Deri is harming IDF soldiers,” Bennett wrote to his X account. “Aryeh Deri cannot sit in one more government in Israel. The IDF is crying out for soldiers and Deri is lying and making up excuses.” 

Prime minister hopeful, and former IDF Chief of Staff, Gadi Eisenkot also sharply criticized Deri’s comments. 

“Aryeh, it's over. This time you'll have to deal with it,” Eisenkot wrote to X. “The IDF and its servants have been dealing with it for years. If you were connected to the people of Israel and the State of Israel, you'd know full well how much they are dealing with it.” 

Eisenkot also promised to pass “a real enlistment law” in the next government that will strengthen the IDF. 

“We will pass a law that will not tear the people apart, a law that will preserve the status of the Torah—the Torah of the entire people,” he stated. 

Right-wing opposition member and former defense minister Avigdor Liberman said that “Aryeh Derei has become the number one advocate for draft dodging in Israel. Instead of calling on those who do not study Torah to enlist, he acts against the enlistment of Haredim and against the IDF.” 

Liberman also referred to the Shas founder and leader, and former Chief Rabbi of Israel, saying,  “Maran Rabbi Ovadia Yosef is turning over in his grave when he sees his conduct.”