The IDF on Monday announced that it will soon open its third company of the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) Hashmonaim Brigade, a sign of some continuous and mild success, but also of the mixed impact on the issue of broader integration into the IDF to date.
One haredi company has already been in combat for months, while a second company has a few more months of training before entering combat.
In total, the number of haredim in the whole brigade will still be lower – or not much higher – than 300 after the third company begins training and goes into service, a drop in the bucket compared to the 10,000 haredim the military believes should be starting to serve from a population of as many as 80,000 eligible young men.
Nevertheless, the numbers improve when taking into account haredim who are serving in the Netzach Yehuda battalion as border guards, in new upkeep units, in new air force support units, in combat support units, and in other units across the military.
Most recently, the IDF reported to the Knesset that the numbers came close to 3,000 for the year, up from 1,800 in some prior years.
But even those numbers have fallen far short of the interim goal of 4,800 new haredi draftees per year, let alone the long-term, much higher goals.
In terms of general aspirations for the Hashmonaim brigade, the goal is to have enough soldiers to be considered a battalion (approximately 250 or more) by Independence Day in Spring 2026 and enough trained to be considered a brigade (between 500-1,000) by sometime in 2027.
Top Hashmonaim officers acknowledge that they may come in for the low end of numbers for what is considered a battalion and a brigade.
Consistent and stable progress
IDF sources said that progress has been consistent and stable, but they had hoped for a jump in new recruits after two successful classes were trained. They added that the latest tensions between the military and the haredi community over the lack of draftees and the arrests of some of its members for failing to draft have undermined otherwise positive momentum.
The brigade has also opened up some new pathways for haredim, such as fixing tanks on the Gaza front and including around 30 with legal backgrounds, who have joined the IDF legal division or the military courts system.
The IDF has given several reasons for the many shortfalls of the new programs to date, but the main ones are that the haredi community is pressuring the eligible young men not to join, as the government debates a new law that would either anchor status quo exemption or delay any real sanctions against the community from kicking in.
When Likud MK Yuli Edelstein tried to push through a tougher law at the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee in June and July, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had him ousted.
Although the High Court of Justice in April 2024 nixed aspects of haredi yeshiva funds due to non-compliance with the draft, as well as additional funds in early 2025, the government has advanced with funneling huge sums of money to the haredi communities in other ways, which may be indirectly used to cover any shortfalls caused by the High Court decisions.