No More Exemptions – Israeli Military to Issue Draft Orders to Ultra-Orthodox Jews 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. (Design: Palestine Chronicle)

By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

Last month, Israel’s Supreme Court ruled that the Haredi must be conscripted into the army and that financial aid should be withheld from religious institutions whose students do not comply with military service requirements.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and the military have agreed to begin drafting ultra-Orthodox Jews from next month, according to The Jerusalem Post.

The paper noted the exact number of draft orders to be issued was not indicated. However, the military said that “it could immediately integrate around 3,000 ultra-Orthodox men, in addition to the around 1,800 it already has.”

“Gallant approved the army’s recommendation to issue draft orders to members of the Haredi community next month,” the Defense Ministry statement said in a statement, according to the Anadolu news agency.

The statement did not specify the number of ultra-Orthodox Jews (or Haredi) to be drafted.

The Jerusalem Post said, “The 3,000 is out of a class of around 10,000–12,000 per academic year, with over 60,000 Haredi potentially in play from several academic years.”

There was no immediate comment from Israeli religious parties on the decision, Anadolu said.

Supreme Court Mandate – Ultra-Orthodox Jews Must Serve in the Army

Supreme Court Ruling

Last month, Israel’s Supreme Court ruled that the Haredi must be conscripted into the army and that financial aid should be withheld from religious institutions whose students do not comply with military service requirements.

Haredi Jews, who make up about 13% of Israel’s population of approximately 9.9 million, do not serve in the military, citing a commitment to study the Torah, Judaism’s holy book.

Israeli law requires every Israeli citizen over the age of 18 to serve in the military, while the exemption of Haredi from service has been a controversial issue for decades.

The Times of Israel reports that an estimated 67,000 Haredi males are eligible for military service.

Staggering Death Toll

Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.

According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 38,243 Palestinians have been killed, and 88,033 wounded. Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.

Genocide Continues – Children among Dozens Killed in Latest Israeli Airstrikes

Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.

Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.

The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.

The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.

Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began moving from the south to central Gaza in a constant search for safety.

(PC, Anadolu)

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