Haredi riots against enlistment
Archive photo: Ohad Zwigenberg
IDF reneges on cancellation of haredi battalion swearing-in
About-face follows public outcry after Ynet story on cancellation branded 'capitulation to the haredi street' by one trooper
The IDF
has decided to hold as originally planned the swearing-in ceremony for recruits of the Netzah Yehuda Batallion of Nahal’s haredi unit. The ceremony will take place at Givat Hatahmoshet in Jerusalem on Sunday with relatives in attendance.
The about-face follows public outcry after Ynet’s story on how the IDF cancelled the swearing-in ceremony scheduled for Thursday, out of fear extremist haredim would protest at the event.
Related stories:
- Swearing-in ceremony for haredi troops cancelled
- Next generation of ultra-Orthodox recruit
- Enlistment to IDF haredi program up 25%
One of the haredi soldiers told Ynet that he and his comrades were disappointed by the decision. "We were prepared and very excited. Suddenly, just hours before the ceremony, we were told it's been called off," he said.
"We understand, and we are not angry, but it's frustrating," he said.
Another soldier who serves in the Netzah Yehuda Battalion said the decision "may be interpreted as a capitulation to the haredi street," adding that a "solution could have been found so that the haredi soldiers would also absorb the symbolism and historic importance of Ammunition Hill."
The brigade, which was originally founded in 1999 in the Nahal Brigade, and is therefore still called Nahal Haredi, is mainly comprised of young men who have abandoned the haredi world, and some who have even left the religious world altogether.
A significant percentage of the soldiers in this brigade belong to the national-religious public and seek to serve in a unit with no female soldiers, strictly kosher food, Torah lessons and commanders who adapt themselves to the population.
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