It’s time for ultra-Orthodox Israeli men to serve in the IDF like everyone else, not get more special political exemptions

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL – One of the biggest debates raging in Israel today is this: Should the government of Israel require – that is, force – ultra-Orthodox men to serve in the Israeli Defense Forces just like every other able-bodied man in the country?

Our answer is: Yes – absolutely, yes.

It’s a principled position that we have held consistently.

More than one year ago, we at ALL ISRAEL NEWS wrote in an editorial that “Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community must finally enlist in the IDF and shoulder an equal part of the burden.”

True, since then, much has changed:

·      the war in Gaza and Lebanon is essentially over

·      all of our live hostages are now safely back home in Israel

·      the nation is trying to collectively breathe a sigh of relief and find our new normal.

But this hot-button issue remains as controversial as ever.

It’s time to resolve it once and for all with a law and policy that requires the same level of burden and service from everyone – no special exceptions, no political exemptions..

After all:

·      the IDF says it needs at least 20,000 more recruits to serve in the active duty forces annually to adequately protect the country on all sides

·      our Reservists are exhausted after two years of bitter, non-stop fighting, and they shouldn’t have to be required to keep serving in the military, away from their families and jobs, month after month with no end in sight.

·      and Israel’s government is, once again,  on the verge of collapsing over this question.

Yet the ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) political parties adamantly refuse.

They continue to demand that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his coalition government pass a law exempting their young men from having to serve in the military.

They also want the government to impose no jail terms or other sanctions on religious young people who resist, refuse, and avoid serving in the military.

If Netanyahu accedes to their demands, the Haredi parties promise to remain in his coalition.

If he doesn’t, they threaten to bolt, bring down the government, force early elections, and not serve with Netanyahu in the future.

For his part, Netanyahu is in a kosher pickle.

He desperately needs these parties to stick loyally to him as he cannot form a government without them.

Yet if he goes to elections having made these concessions, Netanyahu and his allies will likely be punished severely in the next elections (that legally must take place in 2026, no later than October).

Polls consistently show that around 85% of Israelis support conscripting Haredi young people to serve in the army.

Those numbers climbed dramatically since the October 7th War began as Israelis found it not only unfair but infuriating that the ultra-Orthodox community consistently refuses to bear the burden of defending the country from the many and grave threats around us.

A meager 9% of Israelis support exemptions for the Haredi – and that’s down dramatically from 22% before the war began.

The controversy over the lack of military service by Haredi men is one of the main reasons for Israel’s political quagmire since 2019, kicking off the exhausting  run of five elections in four years.

It can be hard to understand for non-Israelis how much this issue has dominated our political discourse.

In Israel’s internal debates, few other issue comes close (except the volcanic debate over judicial reform before October 7).

This is our “culture war,” while American debates about abortion – and European debates over immigration – are essentially non-issues here.

Why is matter in the news again?

Because on Wednesday, the man responsible for formulating a new IDF draft law, Knesset Defense Committee chairman Boaz Bismuth (Likud), inflamed tensions yet again in an interview he gave the Haredi newspaper, BaMishpaha.

“You cannot force people to enlist in the army. What, will you put everyone in prison? Nonsense. I am someone who loves and respects the Haredim. I will not allow us to reach such extremes,“ said Bismuth.

He’s right this is the crux of the matter.

But he’s wrong to say the state can’t force people to serve in the military.

No Israeli mother is keen to send her children to do army service for three years – this is done out of absolute necessity.

Enforcing mandatory service that is equal for all is not discrimination against Haredim.

What truly is discrimination, is allowing every Haredi man to study Torah all day – and not work, and not pay taxes, and get a government check each month for studying Torah – while the rest of Israel’s sons are dying, and fathers have to leave their families for months on end to serve in Gaza.

Bismuth's latest proposal for a new law has drawn sharp criticism across the board for its lack of strong sanctions against draft dodgers.

And, in our view, rightly so.

Notably, modern Orthodox Israelis – those Jews who are religiously observant, try to keep the Torah, eat kosher, and celebrate all the Jewish holidays but don’t consider themselves “ultra-religious” – faithfully serve in the IDF.

They believe it’s their religious and civic duty to protect the country.

They serve in the military with distinction, often in combat units, including in elite and special forces units.

Evangelical Christian Israelis – and Messianic Jewish Israelis – have also long served faithfully in the IDF, often in combat and special forces units, for the same reasons.

In our last editorial, we emphasized our understanding for the Haredi population’s desire to keep their lifestyle and traditions intact.

We also expressed our empathy for concerns of Haredi parents who don’t want to see their children might be led away from their community and upbringing through service in the explicitly secular framework of the IDF.

But we at ALL ISRAEL NEWS stand with the overwhelming majority of Jewish society in Israel on this issue.

National Religious Jews, conservative Jews, even some religious Muslims and traditional Christians have been sending their children into the IDF for decades.

Our Christian and Messianic Jewish brothers in Israel share some of the Haredi concerns but are still proud to serve their nation in any capacity they can, following the example of the Biblical warrior heroes, many of them being men and women of deep faith.

Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett – a modern Orthodox Jew – recently made this point, which has been used in Israel’s public debates on this issue for decades.

He cited passages from the Bible – specifically Numbers 32 and Joshua 1 -- in which the tribes Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh are allowed to settle east of the Jordan river, in an arrangement that is often compared to the Haredis’ separate lifestyle in their own towns and neighborhoods.

But Moses gave them permission to do so only if they agreed to aid their brothers in taking possession of the land of Israel through military service.

“Shall your brothers go to war while you sit here?”  (Numbers 32:6).

Moses was clear: the answer is “no.”

We couldn’t agree more.