Every year, the Israel Defense Forces loses 13% of its potential draft, because of the arrangement under the Tal Law exempting Haredim who study Torah as a way of life - and do not work - from army service. By the year 2020, estimates the army, it will be losing 20% of its potential draft each year, because of the relatively faster growth of the Haredi population. Already, 60,000 ultra-Orthodox men who would otherwise have been drafted are studying in yeshiva: They will continue to get deferments each year until age 30 (at least ). Beyond the military cost, the arrangement of full-time Torah study costs the nation NIS 7 billion a year in allowances and lost output, because they don't work.

But there's another article on YNet about how the Army doesn't have enough funds to adequately train & equip the reserves and that training is sparse in the regular army. It doesn't matter if you have 10,000 extra recruits if all they can do is use harsh language against the enemy!

The Netzach Yehuda reserve unit is oversubscribed by 50%. If the army really needed Haredim so badly, they would open another reserve unit tomorrow, doubling the number of Haredi reserves. The fact that they don't hints that this is nothing more then another Haredi bashing article.

Recruit the thousands "elite" Tel Aviv draft dodgers and the gap will be filled.

I just finished my IDF service as a combat soldier.If anything, the IDF needs less people. Most of the soldiers (especially the 90% that don't serve in combat units) are a waste of space.But the government will always say that it needs more employees so that it can get a bigger budget, which means that you pay more taxes. Don't believe them.

Large and increasing numbers of Haredim are eager to serve in the I.D.F. This starkly contrasts with leftists, many of whom don't want to serve, evade serving, and often demonize the I.D.F.

Lots of kids I know in the army are working 1/2 days, seem to be home about half the time etc. Seems to me the army needs to be more efficient before it wants more staff. Sounds like Agamon made us this report to suit certain MKs. I wonder what party he wants to join when he retires. .

Unless they want them to do the dirty job of expelling Jews from their homes. What other reason? The IDF has made it crystal clear that it DOES NOT WANT HAREDIM. Only recently there was a report that large numbers of Hareidi reservists are not called up because the Army does not know what to do with them. As to there not being enough soldiers, as far as the empire builders in the Army are concerned, there are never enough soldiers. The Army must be made smaller (lean and mean) not artificially fattened to provide jobs for useless Generals.

A kingdom and a beautiful princess for you or the one that gonna' make them work, pay taxes and serve,...

The Haredim claim that they serve the country by learning, and that this protects the country as much as the soldiers do. The caveat however is that they do not really believe this, because if they did, they would be so dedicated that they would not take off all of Nisan and half the summer. They are therefore simply lying, ask them if soldiers should take off that time too?

this is all BS and everyone knows it. The vast majority of draft dodgers are not orthodox Jews

This year alone!!