After Israel’s recently appointed defense minister, Israel Katz, issued 7,000 draft notices for the country’s ultra-Orthodox Jews to enlist them in the Israel Defense Force (IDF) last November 15th, the IDF has issued 1,126 “arrest warrants” to those who do not show up and enlist.
IDF issued over 1,000 'arrest warrants' to ultra-Orthodox who ignored draft orders, says officerhttps://t.co/ySPthm2dCx
— The Times of Israel (@TimesofIsrael) November 19, 2024
In a statement, Israel’s Ministry of Defense explained that the move to draft and enlist thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel, also called Haredim, who make up 12% of the country’s population, aims to “ease the burden on regular, career, and reserve soldiers,” adding that the Israeli military would provide support to ultra-Orthodox Jews in “maintaining their religious lifestyle.”
But a senior Israeli military official warned lawmakers in the Israeli parliament that the military has issued over a thousand arrest warrants for ultra-Orthodox Jews who did not show up to the induction centers.
“Of the 3,000 ultra-Orthodox who received [draft] orders, 1,126 were issued arrest warrants for those who did not report to the first and second orders,” Brigadier General Shay Taib, head of the IDF’s Personnel Directorate’s Planning and Personnel Management Division, said during a Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting.
#BREAKING
The #Israeli Government continues to fuel the tension with #Haredi Jews, issuing 1,126 #arrest warrants for those who refused to enlist in the army pic.twitter.com/6JHu7QbOEx—(@8zal) November 22, 2024
“After that, they will receive a call for immediate recruitment, and anyone who does not come [to the induction center] will be declared an evader,” Taib added.
The consequences of being declared a draft evader in Israel include receiving a “no exit order,” which bars those issued with it from leaving the country. They can also be arrested any time they encounter law enforcement authorities.
While the IDF Military Police does not plan to arrest anyone who does not show up to the induction centers, they will wait until they are declared draft dodgers and leave it to law enforcement.
That's right, I hope they get all of them. You have to ask yourself what type of man are you if you don't volunteer to serve your country in its time of need?? You don't gotta be a warrior, lots of options like medics & chaplains, etc.
— EV_Trapper (@EV_Trapper) November 19, 2024
The Knesset’s Opposition Leader, Yair Lapid, responded to Taib by issuing a statement demanding Katz direct the IDF to “immediately” issue an additional 7,000 conscription orders to ultra-Orthodox Israelis of military age and “strengthen enforcement against those who did not report for duty.”
The IDF sent out the first 1,000 of the 7,000 draft orders to male members of the ultra-Orthodox community slated to go out in the coming months, which followed a previous round of 3,000 orders that were sent out. Less than 10% showed up at induction centers out of the 3,000 men called up for military duty.
The IDF said it currently needs some 10,000 new soldiers — mostly combat troops — but can only accommodate enlisting an additional 3,000 ultra-Orthodox this year because of their additional needs.
Reduce or cut entirely any benefits for the Orthodox group, if they refuse to serve.
— ClosetItalian (@ThotCrim) November 5, 2024
This would mean that only 4,800 out of more than 60,000 eligible ultra-Orthodox men would be conscripted, even when adding the 1,800 Haredi soldiers who are already drafted annually, a number that Yuli Edelstein, a Member of the Knesset for the ruling Likud Party, has long dismissed as insufficient.
Following the hearing, Edelstein said the IDF’s figure of 3,000 “is not acceptable to me” and should be higher, adding that “those who contributed three years to the state should receive more than those who chose not to contribute. This is true for every citizen in the State of Israel,” ultra-Orthodox or otherwise.”
