The Israel Defense Forces are preparing in the coming days to issue 14,000 draft notices to young ultra-Orthodox men. These orders will add to the roughly 10,000 already sent since last June, though the response so far has been extremely limited. The military plans to incorporate lessons learned from earlier draft rounds and focus on communities and cities where enlistment rates were higher.
According to data presented Monday at the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, of 3,000 draft orders issued last summer, only 160 ultra-Orthodox men have enlisted to date. In November 2024, an additional 7,000 summonses were approved, resulting in just 17 enlistments so far. Several hundred more are currently undergoing various stages of the enlistment process. Sixty-five individuals are under arrest orders, and more than 2,000 are under Order 12, which requires immediate enlistment. Those who fail to report to the draft office within the number of days specified are subject to a travel ban and may be arrested if they encounter police.
The IDF intends to improve the effectiveness of future draft rounds, though no significant changes are expected in the way the notices are delivered or in how officials interact with draft candidates, beyond adjustments made to date.
On Tuesday morning, ultra-Orthodox newspapers published notices calling for prayers on Thursday in response to what was described as “a war against the world of yeshivas.” The announcements, appearing in publications such as Yated Ne’eman and HaMevaser, declared, “At a time when war has been declared against the world of Torah learning, with schemes to conscript Torah scholars — God forbid — and many other decrees upon the Torah world, the Jewish people have only the power of prayer. It is our duty to plead with the Creator of all worlds and to seek mercy on His people. Therefore, we will all gather for a day of prayer on the Fast of Esther.”
The notice went on to call for “coming before the King, assembling and standing up for our souls in communal prayer throughout the world, asking for the sake of the Torah world and for each and every one of its scholars. ‘Our Father, our King, nullify from upon us all evil and harsh decrees.’” The notice also said that, on the Fast of Esther, “Men, women and children will gather to recite Psalms and prayers. Yeshiva students will increase their Torah study, crying out on behalf of the Torah world and all Israel who are in distress and captivity, and the Holy One, Blessed be He, will have mercy on us and redeem us from all our troubles. May we merit a great salvation as in the days of Mordechai and Esther.”
Meanwhile, the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee continued its debates on the proposed legislation that would formalize draft exemptions for ultra-Orthodox men. Tensions rose when one participant shouted at Knesset lawmaker Yinon Azoulay of the Shas Party, calling him “insolent” and was subsequently removed from the hearing.
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“There’s an agreement from the rabbis that I sit here to ensure that those who are not learning in yeshiva will enlist, but that they stay in a framework appropriate to the ultra-Orthodox community, one that’s good for them,” Azoulay responded. The attendee replied: “No one asks my children, and no one wraps them in cotton wool like that. Insolent!” Azoulay responded: “You won’t call me insolent. Shame on you. I have the Torah, and it protects no less. Don’t argue with my faith.”
Laly Deri, whose son, Staff Sgt. (res.) Sa’adia Yaakov, who studied at the hesder yeshiva in Jaffa, was killed by a mortar strike in central Gaza on June 20, 2024, also took part in the discussion. “I prayed this issue of drafting my ultra-Orthodox brothers would come from within, through mutual responsibility. I prayed for it, but sadly, it isn’t happening,” she said.
Since her son’s death, Deri has become a prominent advocate for drafting ultra-Orthodox men. “We’ve been discussing this law for 16 months. In that time, we could have drafted so many people who could have contributed to the war effort, but it’s not happening. I wanted it to come from a place of ‘we will do and we will listen,’ but it turns out it has to be forced like Mount Sinai over our heads. This law is urgent. Not only was my son’s spirituality not harmed in the IDF, he grew there. We have no choice but to demand personal sanctions," she said.