Some 338 eligible haredi (ultra-Orthodox) men joined the IDF’s new special tracks tailored to their religious and cultural needs – out of the 10,000 who were sent summons since July, the IDF announced on Tuesday.
While each new draftee counts, the compliance rate for haredi summons – less than 3% – out of the most recent batch of draft orders numbering 7,000, is even lower than the original compliance rate, which was closer to 10% for 3,000 summons sent out over the summer.
The military’s goal has been to increase the number of haredi draftees by around 3,000 this year, to bring the total number to around 4,800 per year.
Even this goal would have left an estimated between 60,000-80,000 eligible men undrafted from this year and recent years, but would have constituted a major jump in recruitment.
According to the IDF, the latest announcement came as the process to send out the 10,000 summons concluded. They have been sent out on a rolling basis, first in the summer and then in the fall.
Reasons for failures
The IDF has given several reasons for the new programs’ massive failures to date, but the largest ones are that the haredi community is pressuring the eligible young men not to join, as the government debates a new law that would either anchor status quo exemption, or delay any real sanctions against the community from kicking in for seven years.
Although the High Court of Justice in April nixed aspects of haredi yeshiva funds, due to non-compliance with the draft, and there is a threat to cancel subsidies for childcare from non-compliant families in late February, the government has advanced with funneling huge sums of money to the haredi communities in other ways, which may be indirectly used to fill any shortfalls caused by the High Court decisions.
The IDF has made it clear that it is not going to, on a large scale, arrest haredim refusing their draft, and that enforcement has been very limited. The IDF regards enforcement as a broader social issue that the government must handle.
Of the 338 new haredi draftees, 211 are in combat units, while 127 are in units to support combat units. These recruits are part of the new Hasmonean Brigade, the new upkeep units in the North, and a second round of haredi border guard units.
More specifically, 70 draftees joined the Netzah Yehuda battalion of the Kfir Brigade, 19 joined the Tomer company in the Givati Brigade, 19 joined the Hetz company of the Paratroopers Brigade, and 11 joined the Negev company in the air force, along with other units.
The IDF has said that it expects other haredim to join over the course of January, but it is unclear how significant these numbers will be.