Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced that they will issue summons notices for ultra-Orthodox youth starting Sunday, with the aim of recruiting them in the midst of the war with Hamas in Gaza and the escalation with Hezbollah on the northern border, despite the vehement opposition of this religious sector. .
The decision "is part of the Israel Defense Forces' program to promote the integration of members of the ultra-Orthodox community into its ranks," so "the process of issuing summons orders will begin on Sunday, July 21, 2024." for evaluation (…) for the next recruitment cycle that began in July," the military spokesperson said in a statement.
The military corps "is working to recruit people from all sectors of society in light of the recruitment requirement in Israel, due to its status as a People's Army and in view of the growing operational needs at this time, given the security challenges ", Add.
These orders are the first stage in the selection and evaluation process that the Israel Defense Forces carries out for new recruits, ahead of enlistment next year.
Ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) Jews have staged numerous protests in recent weeks against the forced integration of their young people into the Israel Defense Forces, after the Supreme Court of Justice ordered the Government to take measures to increase the number of religious young people who They perform compulsory military service.
Yesterday, Tuesday, after the announcement by the Israel Defense Forces, dozens of ultra-Orthodox people blocked a highway in Bnei Brak, in central Israel, a demonstration that the Police described as "illegal" and ordered its dispersion.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant last week approved sending draft orders to ultra-Orthodox, although he did not specify how many of the approximately 63.000 Haredi youth of military age will receive draft orders.
However, the Israeli armed forces have already warned that by 2024 they could only recruit 3.000, since ultra-Orthodox Jews have special requirements in areas such as diet or living with women, and the IDF would have to accommodate the new ones. recruits in special battalions.
Last night, an ultra-Orthodox mob attacked two Israel Defense Forces officers in Bnei Brak, on the outskirts of Tel Aviv, who were in the city for a meeting about establishing an ultra-Orthodox brigade.
The episode was condemned by broad sectors of national politics, including Gallant and Yitzhak Goldknopf, leader of the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party, key in Benjamin Netanyahu's government coalition.
Since the founding of the State of Israel in 1948, young people who study full-time in a Talmudic school (yeshiva) are exempt from military service, which is mandatory for much of Israeli society (Israeli Arabs are also exempt). .
The exemption, which had been extended through special provisions until a few months ago, has always been a source of controversy, and even more so after the start of the war in Gaza against the Palestinian Islamic terrorist group Hamas and the escalation on the border with the Lebanon with the Shiite terrorist group Hezbollah, which has brought the Israel Defense Forces to the brink of a personnel crisis.