As draft notices reached ultra-Orthodox individuals this week, Yated Ne’eman, the newspaper affiliated with the Lithuanian Degel HaTorah faction, published a front-page directive from Haredi leaders on Sunday.
The directive instructed the community to reject the initial summons, citing “the intensification of decrees and practical attempts to harm Torah scholars.” The headline read: “It shall not come to pass.”The directive was issued following a Supreme Court ruling mandating the conscription of all ultra-Orthodox men, including yeshiva students, previously exempt under the “Torah as their profession” arrangement.
The newspaper stated: “In these days, there is an intensified effort to harm Torah scholars and to advance the conscription decree into practical stages. Therefore, our great sages instruct that there must be no cooperation with the authorities who have opened a front against Torah scholars and seek to alter the arrangement that has existed for years.”Rabbi Dov Landau, a prominent leader of the Lithuanian Haredi community, declared: “We know full well that no yeshiva student or kollel scholar will join the army—under any circumstances and in any form whatsoever.” Yeshiva heads have encouraged students to remain resolute, urging them not to cooperate with authorities and to stand firm “against all schemers of evil.”
The proposed legislation passed its first reading in the Knesset but has since stalled due to opposition from then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and other coalition members. Haredi leaders expressed optimism, saying Gallant’s removal may facilitate the advancement of the bill.
Opposition leader MK Yair Lapid condemned the directive as a “national disgrace,” saying: “The instruction to yeshiva students is an insult to our soldiers and a public call to break the law.”
ההוראה לבני הישיבות היא חרפה לאומית, עלבון ללוחמים וקריאה פומבית לעבור על החוק pic.twitter.com/QLuCwvwExD
— יאיר לפיד - Yair Lapid (@yairlapid) November 17, 2024
Haredim in the IDF
According to figures released by the IDF, between 900 and 1,000 ultra-Orthodox men are currently serving in the military. Despite ongoing tensions, enlistment rates remain low. Over the past few months, the military issued more than 3,000 draft notices and 930 arrest warrants to ultra-Orthodox individuals who failed to report for duty. Since the Supreme Court’s June 25 ruling, only 48 Haredim have enlisted.
Meanwhile, the newspaper Hamodia, aligned with the Agudat Yisrael faction, criticized Defense Minister Israel Katz. It wrote: “The defense minister continues a process doomed from the outset to resounding failure, whose sole purpose is to deepen the crisis with the Haredi community and continue the war against the Torah world.”