The cabinet approved a revised IDF Draft Law on Sunday that includes plans to recruit haredim (ultra-Orthodox) into the military and lower the age of exemption to 21 for those who prefer to remain in yeshiva. The lowering of the age will be in effect for two years.
After 24 months, the exemption age will rise to 22, and a year later, it will increase to 23.
Even after the age rises, haredim will be able to complete their service at the age of 21 on condition they join the workforce through a track that provides professional training.
As part of the new law, representatives of the prime minister, defense minister and foreign minister will form a team responsible for evaluating suitable tracks for haredi service in the IDF and in alternative national service. The team will formulate a plan that meets the security, economic and social needs of the country and the haredim by November 2022.
“For decades, the State of Israel has consistently chosen to cut off our own ears in order to punish ourselves,” Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said. “In other words, because they were angry that the haredim were not enlisting, they also forced them not to enter the labor market until a late age. Today, we are putting an end to this and opening the gate of work and employment to haredi young people.”
“We are removing the barriers and allowing freedom of choice to tens of thousands of haredi young people, without coercion and without tanks in Bnei Brak,” he said. “This is the long and right path for the national interest. The integration of haredi society into the employment market is a top priority for all of us. I am personally excited. This is a historic move for the future of Israel.”
Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said: “After years of previous governments failing to pass a recruitment law, now it’s happening. We promised and fulfilled.”
Defense Minister Benny Gantz said: “This important move will be a bridge to the full-service outline that I intend to promote in the coming months that will regulate once and for all the issue of service in the State of Israel.”
Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman said: “As the first defense minister of the State of Israel, David Ben-Gurion, defined it, the purpose of the army is to protect the homeland, but also to constitute a melting pot that unites all aspects of society. Our decision balances that melting pot with the needs of the economy today that craves another force participating in the world of employment.”
“This is no less than a vision of the end of days on the way to a comprehensive framework that will enable a common service for all the faces of Israeli society, secular and haredi alike, Jews and Arabs alike,” he said.