On Tuesday, following the announcements of an escalation of the fighting in the Gaza Strip, Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir directed the IDF Manpower Division to urgently present a plan to significantly expand the issuance of draft orders for the Haredi population. He also ordered an accelerated effort to prepare for the recruitment of Haredim into combat and combat-support roles, along with an increase in the IDF’s capacity to absorb them.
Senior Haredi officials said they received messages on Tuesday from associates of Defense Minister Israel Katz indicating that he was “angry” over the Chief of Staff’s directive to ramp up the issuance of draft orders to the Haredi sector. According to these sources, Katz did not authorize the move.
The Chief of Staff’s announcement is expected to heighten pressure from the Haredi parties to pass a new draft law, as the order effectively renders every young Haredi man a criminal under current regulations, along with the associated legal sanctions. In response, the Haredi parties are likely to escalate their threats against the government, with some even hinting at the possibility of dissolving the coalition. A senior United Torah Judaism official told Ynet: “Issuing the conscription orders is nothing more than a symbolic move designed to divide the people — and nothing more.”
Deputy Agriculture Minister Moshe Abutbul (Shas) issued a stark warning on Kol Berama radio, threatening consequences if the government fails to act on a draft law absolving Haredim of the obligation to serve: “We know how to keep promises – and that should worry them,” he said. “There was enough time to prepare. This summer is going to be a hot summer. This dozing off around the conscription law is unacceptable to us. If they don’t understand that – fine, the package has fallen apart. I wouldn’t suggest they test us.”
On Wednesday morning, the Haredi parties sharply condemned the Chief of Staff’s draft orders directive for the Haredi sector. Yated Ne’eman, the newspaper affiliated with the Haredi-Lithuanian Degel HaTorah party, ran a red headline proclaiming: “The bomb dropped by the Chief of Staff – widespread anger and a course set for collision.” The paper further warned that this move marked “another red line crossed – draft orders for those who sit on the benches of the beit midrash.”
Yated Ne’eman also suggested that the Chief of Staff’s decision could endanger the stability of the coalition, writing: “Great anger in the Haredi public and a shake-up in the coalition after the Chief of Staff yesterday instructed the head of the IDF to prepare for the conscription of all yeshiva students and to uproot Torah scholars from their source of livelihood.”
The article cited remarks by Lithuanian leader Rabbi Dov Landau, made during a conference at his home earlier this week, on the ongoing conscription debate: “They are threatening, God forbid, to draft yeshiva students – even if only one – and the government has still not resolved the issue. We cannot stand idly by; all avenues are open to us in this matter.”
The newspaper Hamodia, affiliated with Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf of Agudath Israel, warned: “Harsh report: The Chief of Staff ordered the army to expedite sending orders to Torah students.” The paper added, “The campaign of persecution against Torah students continues – there is deep resentment in the Haredi public over the broader conduct, and the community is uniting around the call of the rabbis to secure the legal status of Torah students whose Torah is their vocation.”
The newspaper HaMevaser, affiliated with Minister Meir Porush, also harshly criticized the Chief of Staff’s directive, describing it as “a dangerous trend aimed at forcibly recruiting yeshiva students.” The paper stressed: “Even though the facts are well known, it must be reiterated – even if all enforcement mechanisms are activated, they have no power to compel a single Torah student to abandon the Gemara. And if, God forbid, matters reach imprisonment, we will go together – students and their teachers – with joy and pride, continuing our learning even within the prison’s walls. The Torah will prevail. This is not a slogan – it is a truth that history has already proven.”
In 1998, the High Court of Justice ruled that the blanket exemption from military service granted by the defense minister to all yeshiva students was unconstitutional, citing a disproportionate violation of the principle of equality, and struck it down. Since that landmark decision, the Court has consistently invalidated every legislative or policy arrangement intended to preserve the exemption.
As of July 1, 2023, there is no longer any legal basis for exempting yeshiva students from IDF service. In March 2024, the government began formulating a legislative proposal to amend the Security Service Law. The proposed outline sought to formalize the so-called “His Torah is his craft” exemption for elite yeshiva students while limiting its scope, and to mandate military or civilian national service for those who do not qualify under the exemption.
In June 2024, the High Court ruled definitively that there is no legal framework permitting differential treatment between yeshiva students and other Israeli citizens subject to conscription. The Court concluded that the government has no authority to block the enlistment of eligible yeshiva students and must actively proceed with their conscription. The ruling also barred the allocation of public funds to yeshivas and religious schools for students who have received an exemption from military service.
