First 50 ultra-Orthodox soldiers drafted to IDF’s new Haredi brigade
Military hails ‘significant milestone,’ says another 100 older Haredi men join Hasmonean Brigade’s first reservist company
The first 50 ultra-Orthodox soldiers were drafted for regular service in the Israel Defense Forces’ new Haredi brigade, known as the Hasmonean Brigade, the military said on Sunday.
The establishment of the brigade comes as part of the efforts in the IDF to expand the draft of ultra-Orthodox men, as it faces personnel shortages caused by the ongoing war.
The IDF has been opening new units, as well as considering building a separate induction center, for Haredi troops, to meet the army’s needs of at least 10,000 additional troops per year.
The dispute about the ultra-Orthodox community serving in the military is one of the most contentious in Israel, with decades of governmental and judicial attempts to settle the issue, having failed to achieve a resolution.
The Haredi religious and political leadership fiercely resists any effort to draft young men, who have in the past been granted exemptions from serving. The issue has come to a head, in light of recent High Court rulings demanding an end to blanket exemptions, and public pressure has risen, due to the manpower shortages caused by the long ongoing war.
The 50 soldiers drafted on Sunday were set to be part of the Hasmonean Brigade’s first regular company. Meanwhile, another 100 older Haredi men were being drafted into the brigade’s first reserve company.
The reserve company was set to be made up of people who have already completed the so-called Shlav Bet (Stage B) track, in which older people are put through two weeks of basic training before being sent to serve in noncombat roles. The reservists will undergo an additional six-month combat training period before being sent to the Hasmonean Brigade’s reserve company, according to the IDF.
Additional soldiers are expected to be drafted in the coming month, and will join those who began their training on Sunday.
The IDF said the recruitment of the 150 soldiers was a “significant milestone” in establishing the Hasmonean Brigade and “the process of expanding [the number of] members of the ultra-Orthodox community in IDF service, especially in light of the operational needs arising from the needs of the war.”
Ahead of the draft, the IDF said it carried out a “wide-ranging preparation process,” including recruiting staff for the brigade, renovating an old training base — the Tebetz Camp in the Jordan Valley — and “adapting it to the ultra-Orthodox lifestyle.”
According to a report by the Israel Hayom daily, soldiers serving in the new brigade will be permitted to wear “Sabbath clothes” on Saturdays, when not on duty, instead of military uniforms, and will be required to attend prayers and a mandatory hour of Torah study daily.
The troops will also be required to have phones that are “kosher” — devices on which social media and most other apps are blocked.
The first commander of the Haredi brigade is Col. Avinoam Emunah, an Orthodox senior officer. Maj. Gen. David Zini, the head of the IDF’s Training Command and General Staff Corps, is the “project manager” of the drafting of Haredi soldiers.
Also on Sunday, the IDF said additional members of the ultra-Orthodox community were drafted to other units for Haredi troops.
The existing IDF units for Haredi soldiers include the Netzah Yehuda Battalion in the Kfir Brigade, the Tomer Company in the Givati Brigade’s Rotem Battalion, the Hetz Company in the Paratroopers Brigade’s 202nd Battalion, and the Nevatim Airbase’s ground defense unit, as well as numerous other non-combat roles.
Last month, the IDF established a first-ever Israeli Air Force technicians unit for young men of the ultra-Orthodox community, allowing them to maintain their religious lifestyle while serving in the army.
A landmark High Court ruling in June said there was no longer any legal framework allowing the state to refrain from drafting Haredi yeshiva students into military service.
In November, the IDF said it was sending out 7,000 draft orders to members of the ultra-Orthodox community after the first phase of a plan to draft Haredi soldiers was largely unsuccessful. The IDF had sent out 3,000 draft orders in the first stage over the summer, but just 230 showed up at induction centers.
Many ultra-Orthodox Jews believe that military service is incompatible with their way of life, and fear that those who enlist will be secularized.
Israelis who do serve, however, say the decades-long arrangement of mass exemptions unfairly burdens them, a sentiment that has intensified since the October 7 onslaught and the ensuing war, in which more than 825 soldiers have been killed and some 300,000 citizens called up to reserve duty.
Last week, during a meeting with military officials on the efforts to draft ultra-Orthodox men, Defense Minister Israel Katz said a new outline for a Haredi draft law was being formulated and would soon be brought to the Knesset to advance a legislative process.
Also in the meeting, Katz said his target was to reach at least 50 percent of Haredi men turning 18 each year to draft to the military within seven years.
The IDF has previously told Katz that it can handle drafting 100% of those turning 18 within a year and a half.
This past year, some 70,000 Haredi males were listed as eligible for military service.
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