In recent weeks, the IDF has launched talks with the ultra-Orthodox Karlin Hasidic sect on creating a tailored military enlistment program where adult men from the sect would undergo professional training and serve in the military in the field they studied.
These Haredi soldiers would be able to use their training for employment after their discharge. The program is set to start with about 200 members, allowing them to serve without military uniforms, in women-free environments, with kosher food and other accommodations.
Extreme factions within the ultra-Orthodox community protested the initiative. Recently, a poster circulated in Jerusalem under the headline "An Act of Amalek" (Biblical enemy of the Israelites), declaring: "Anyone raised within the Haredi tradition knows that the impure army is strictly off-limits, no matter the circumstances. Enlisting in the army means deserting to the enemy."
"This was clear until one Hasidic group took an unprecedented bold step by quietly reaching an agreement with the army. In the first stage, approximately 200 yeshiva students will enlist – God forbid. No Hasidic sect has dared to do this before, as it not only seals the fate of their unfortunate students and ultimately the entire sect, but it also facilitates this step for others, aiding those who seek to dismantle the Haredi resistance," the statement said.
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A few days before former defense ministry Yoav Gallant was dismissed in November, Yedioth Ahronoth reported on a rare meeting between him and the sect's leader Rabbi Baruch Shochat. The meeting focused on enlistment issues, with Gallant’s office describing it as "an important and positive meeting that addressed security matters and the significance of military service."