Last Thursday, I jogged by Jerusalem’s recruiting station – and saw a few dozen ultra-Orthodox protesters. I was furious. If they’re supposed to be defending us by studying Torah full-time, how could they find time to protest? Did they arrange a secret multi-front ceasefire? Most outrageous was their arrogance and callousness. It’s hard enough saying goodbye to your children on army enlistment day. During a bloody war, how dare these brats add a scintilla of stress to any parent – or recruit.
Even worse, dozens of soldiers and police were there, and at other recruiting stations – distracted from defending us against evil enemies to stop these unholy hooligans from harassing self-sacrificing patriots.
The scene highlighted the inequity tormenting Israel. Too many have lost lives, limbs, peace of mind – or time itself. One of my sons has served 307 days; my new son-in-law has served 255 days. Hundreds of thousands more have served countless days and nights, stressing their spouses and children.
Moreover, we keep hearing from the front that our soldiers are poorly equipped. We have raised money from generous North American friends and Israeli neighbors to buy our kids – and their buddies – kevlar armor plates to fill the empty vests they received, comfortable combat boots, quality helmets, etc. We also tapped extraordinary multi-million dollar efforts subsidizing soldiers – and know of individuals who maxed out their credit cards – usually provisioning not just their kids, but everyone in the unit.
While demanding that the government function better, shouldn’t the government also reallocate some money funding ultra-Orthodox draft-dodgers to better protect our soldiers? And why shouldn’t ultra-Orthodox leaders help raise these funds – to thank those ready to sacrifice their lives to also defend them?
UNIVERSAL SERVICE involves more than filling the army’s personnel shortfall. That’s the most pressing reason why we must phase in more and more ultra-Orthodox recruits.
There’s a deeper reason, too. The army has been Israel’s greatest integrator, unifier, and leveler. Coming from different sectors, with diverse political, religious, and cultural orientations, soldiers live together and befriend one another. It’s one of the secrets to Israel’s cohesion – and battlefield success. If haredi identity can’t survive close contact with others, maybe ultra-Orthodoxy itself is flawed.
By contrast, consider America’s fragmentation. When we historians analyze this insane election – and painful period – we will highlight the Big Sort that created Democratic and Republican enclaves. We will blame social media, Trumpians, woke Democrats and others for the Loud Shouts that replaced reasoned debate with all-or-nothing, my-way-or-the-highway, tribal shrieks. But we will also target the Great Escape: how Americans withdrew from interacting with one another – and especially those who differ politically – on Main Street, at church, online and in the military.
US draft ended in 1973
America’s draft ended in 1973. Back then, veterans made up 80% of the Congress; by 2023 it was barely 20%. More broadly, in 1980, some 18% of American adults were veterans; by 2022, it was just a third of that – 6%.
Reservists spend lots of time together. They can place each comrade on the religious and political spectrum. But it’s irrelevant when they divvy-up everyday tasks or combat missions. And they all show up to their army friends’ weddings, bar mitzvahs – and, alas, funerals.
So beware, “the religious” risk alienating us all. Gotcha. Of course, we’re not talking about “the religious.” Especially this past week, we in Jerusalem again mourned so many wonderful religious Zionist soldiers who had so much to live for – yet fell in battle. I don’t want to calculate the percentages of who has died from which sector. All I know is that much of the nation has sacrificed to save the nation and Western civilization – with religious Zionists leading the way honorably, and yes, disproportionately.
IT’S JUST “the haredim” who will suffer a huge political backlash. Gotcha again. I attack the haredi draft dodgers, not “the haredim.”
I didn’t know it last Thursday, but these protesting slacker scholars mobilized because, as Ynet later reported, “about 150 young ultra-Orthodox men completed a training course in preparation for enlistment through a project that recruits haredim for regular military service. This initiative was launched last November by haredi activists, including Major (Res.) Moshe Turgeman, CEO of the Future of Israel Association, and is supported by the IDF and the Jerusalem Municipality.” The haredi world is highly sectorial – we should find and encourage more of its patriotic sects, willing to serve.
Here, then, are 150 rays of hope – demonstrating more courage, more patriotism, and more Zionist spirit, than many Likud members thrice their age. But, perhaps, the ground is starting to shift. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is demanding 7,000 new haredi draft orders.
One Likud rookie, MK Dan Illouz, has bravely spoken up in favor – and deserves massive support. “Exempting such a large group of people from their obligation to serve in the IDF at such a critical time is anti-Zionist,” he boldly tweeted on X. When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tried bullying him, the 38-year-old Illouz resisted, affirming the “deep Zionism” that brought him from Montreal to Israel – and motivates him.
A Likud leader, Yuli Edelstein, also finally rebelled, opposing “any law that attempts to circumvent our ceaseless efforts to expand the conscription base in the State of Israel.” And Gideon Sa’ar’s New Hope Party will also oppose the “Daycare Bill,” subsidizing draft-dodgers’ children, and thus “encouraging evasion from service in the IDF.”
These Likud rebels deserve our gratitude. They have also undoubtedly earned thanks from many soldiers and Religious Zionists – and haredi warriors, too.
The writer, a senior fellow in Zionist thought at the Jewish People Policy Institute, is an American presidential historian. His latest book, To Resist the Academic Intifada: Letters to My Students on Defending the Zionist Dream, was just published.