Israel announces that it will begin military recruitment of ultra-Orthodox in August

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9 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) –

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced Tuesday that recruitment efforts for ultra-Orthodox Israelis will begin in August, amid an offensive launched against the Gaza Strip following the attacks carried out on October 7 by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and other Palestinian factions.

Gallant’s ministry said in a statement that the minister made the decision after a meeting with Army Chief Herzi Halevi and other senior officials, in which “the IDF’s recommendation to issue conscription orders to members of the Haredi community starting next month was approved.”

The Israeli newspaper The Times of Israel said the measure would be implemented “in line with the IDF’s absorption and selection capabilities and after a significant process of refining existing data on potential recruits.”

Gallant and Halevi stressed during the meeting that the recruitment of ultra-Orthodox is “an operational necessity” and “a complex social issue” that requires these soldiers to be able to “maintain their lifestyle” once they join the ranks of the Israeli Armed Forces.

The announcement comes after Israel’s Supreme Court ruled in late June that there is no legal basis for ultra-Orthodox Israelis to be exempt from military service, amid tensions over the issue within Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition of far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties.

The Supreme Court ruling also provides for a freeze on funding for Talmudic schools that do not comply with the enlistment regulations. The ultra-Orthodox sector considers military service incompatible with their life dedicated to religious study and fears that those who do it will distance themselves from their traditions and beliefs.