The IDF said on Tuesday that it must be able, by March, to mobilize a significantly larger number of soldiers – particularly from the Haredi community – to avert an impending manpower crisis in January 2027.
In January 2027, around 2,500 mandatory service combat soldiers will be released all at once, putting the military at risk of major holes without an immediate, correspondingly large influx of new soldiers.
The IDF is working to increase the interest in combat among the wider population; this interest has increased during the war, both among male and female recruits.
It is unlikely the IDF will get enough recruits without drafting haredim.
Continuing its efforts to encourage haredim to join the army in larger numbers, the IDF released its new order on Tuesday, formally setting down several different pathways to service in the IDF for haredim.
In some ways, the order does nothing new, given that in recent years, a plethora of new programs like Hashmonaim, Magen, Tomer, Chetz, and others have been up and running.
The Hashmonaim combat service for haredim involves essentially zero interaction with women, only serving with haredim, a special time for Jewish studies with those haredim, and soldiers in that developing brigade have already served in Gaza.
IDF signals readiness for larger haredi enlistment
In that sense, issuing the order is more of a public relations exercise by the IDF signaling that it is fully ready to absorb a much larger influx of haredim into the new pathways it created to facilitate a haredi lifestyle.
The order makes clear to the haredi and general public exactly what they can expect, and what it means for more haredim to enter the military, and how the IDF has struck a balance between special haredi rights and the rights of secular women and other sectors.
In addition, the order formally creates the office of adviser to the IDF Chief of Staff, currently Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir, on haredi affairs, which will be filled by Col. Avinoam Emunah.
Emunah is expected to be promoted to the rank of brigadier general, similar to the rank of the IDF chief’s top adviser on women’s issues.
Part of the new position will involve some of the same responsibilities Emunah has had in founding the Hashmonaim Brigade, specially-tailored to haredim, but his portfolio will likely be widened to also handle larger strategic questions. Col. Shamar Raviv has taken over Emunah’s role as commander of the Hashmonaim Brigade.
Zamir must decide what to propose for the future of integrating haredim and when to debate and contest government proposals, and when to keep a low profile and let the politics of the issue sort itself out.
In the past, Zamir had a lieutenant colonel-level adviser on haredi issues, but Emunah’s high rank will give him more pull in implementing major changes and new projects, as well as likely receiving larger budgets.
Moreover, if the number of haredim serving in the IDF does grow, a variety of new issues will likely arise.
Despite the push by the IDF, the military recognizes that many issues are not in its control, but rather in the purview of the government and the Knesset.
The Knesset is working on a new law that will exempt many haredim from service, only increasing haredi service gradually, with the law containing a myriad of loopholes, which could render it meaningless.
The IDF said that regardless of how much the number of haredi recruits increases, it supports the Knesset extending mandatory service from 30-32 months to 36 months.
In contrast, Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara, the political opposition, and some MKs within the government have opposed extending mandatory service unless and until a much larger portion of haredim are drafted into the military.
The vast majority of Israelis, including inside the government, lost patience during the war, and with around 2,000 Israelis killed, the haredi community avoided IDF service, something which much of the population has been upset about for years.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pushed forward with the current partial exemption, limited recruitment bill to try to keep the haredi political parties in his government and to avoid early elections, given their opposition to a large-scale draft.
Recently, a senior IDF officer told the Knesset that there is already an increased rate of haredim drafting to the IDF, which, if it stays at the new, higher rate, could lead to over 3,000 haredi draftees in a year.
While this would be a relative increase, it would still fall far short of drafting 50% or more (which would be around 5,000-6,000 per year) as opposition parties have demanded as a baseline from which to gradually scale up.