The Israel Protection Forces introduced Sunday it could be giving draft dodgers — lots of whom are members of the ultra-Orthodox group — a one-time alternative to enlist within the navy with out dealing with punishment for desertion.
Some 14,600 Israelis — each women and men — are listed by the IDF Personnel Directorate as draft dodgers and deserters, together with those that started the method of enlistment however by no means drafted and those that ignored draft orders for an prolonged interval.
All of them probably face jail time for refusing to enlist, however enforcement has been restricted.
For 5 days ranging from Sunday evening till Thursday, August 21, these Israelis will probably be given a “remaining alternative” to register to be enlisted with out dealing with jail time, as a part of an operation within the IDF dubbed “Beginning Anew.”
The navy stated it could ship notices to the draft evaders, permitting them to register through a hyperlink in an SMS message or by calling the military’s Meitav Unit, which is liable for drafting troopers.
Usually, draft evaders must serve jail time upon enlisting, as punishment for his or her desertion. The navy stated it has recognized that many draft evaders have refused to indicate up over fears of getting to face jail time and being given a felony document.
Extremely-Orthodox Jews protest in opposition to the draft exterior the IDF Recruitment Middle in Jerusalem, September 29, 2024. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Due to this fact, those that register by Thursday and report for responsibility could be exempt from serving jail time and receiving a felony document.
If a draft dodger enlists as a part of the settlement, their punishment for evading responsibility will probably be suspended and solely activated if the soldier doesn’t abide by the phrases of their navy service, reminiscent of deserting responsibility.
The IDF warned that it’s going to not permit this system to be abused by deserters to get out of navy service and keep away from jail time.
Those that report for responsibility will probably be required to reach at induction facilities prepared to go away instantly for primary coaching. There will probably be no delays, and they are going to be required to serve the complete necessary service time, which is 32 months for many male troops and 24 months for girls, with some exceptions relying on the unit and their age.
IDF officers stated they didn’t know what number of would present up for responsibility below the plan.
The plan comes as the military has repeatedly acknowledged that it’s dealing with a manpower scarcity through the ongoing struggle, and presently wants some 12,000 new troopers — 7,000 of them fight troops.
IDF troops are seen on the outskirts of Gaza Metropolis’s Daraj and Tuffah neighborhoods, July 23, 2025. (Emanuel Fabian/ Occasions of Israel)
On the identical time, the IDF stated it plans to accentuate enforcement in opposition to those that haven’t reported for navy service.
At the moment, roughly 80,000 Haredi males between the ages of 18 and 24 are eligible for navy service and haven’t enlisted. Most of them haven’t been formally declared as draft evaders, as solely just lately the IDF issued them enlistment orders.
Chatting with lawmakers final week, Brig. Gen. Shay Tayeb, head of the IDF Personnel Directorate’s Planning and Personnel Administration Division, stated solely 2,940 ultra-Orthodox males have been drafted to the navy in 2024, far off from the IDF’s aim of 4,800.
Testifying earlier than the Knesset International Affairs and Protection Committee, Tayeb stated the quantity “is far greater” than the earlier annual common of 1,800 Haredi troopers, however remains to be “removed from our goal of 4,800, and even farther from the military’s wants.”
Brigadier Basic Shay Tayeb attends a listening to on the federal government’s drafting of ultra-Orthodox males on the Excessive Court docket of Justice, January 8, 2025. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Tayeb additionally informed the committee that a lot of the ultra-Orthodox males who enlisted final yr didn’t enlist in particular tracks for Haredi troopers.
In keeping with Tayeb, some 1,300 of the troopers joined items particularly for Haredi males, whereas the opposite 1,600 enlisted to “common” service tracks.
Of the almost 3,000 Haredi troopers, simply over 1,000 are fight troops, together with 400 within the ultra-Orthodox items — together with the brand new Hasmonean Brigade — and 650 are usually fight items, he stated.
Tayeb additionally informed the lawmakers that every one 80,000 Haredi males eligible for conscription are within the technique of being referred to as up. “Sadly, the speed of non-cooperation among the many [Haredi] inhabitants may be very excessive, and we’ve constructed a course of that enables the [conscription] course of to be carried out at a sooner tempo,” he stated.
The dispute in regards to the ultra-Orthodox group serving within the navy is likely one of the most contentious in Israel, with a long time of governmental and judicial makes an attempt to settle the difficulty having failed to realize a decision.
Troopers from the Hasmonean Brigade participate in a ceremony on the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Outdated Metropolis on August 6, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
The Haredi non secular and political management fiercely resists any effort to draft younger males, who’ve up to now been granted exemptions from serving. The difficulty has come to a head in mild of latest Excessive Court docket rulings demanding an finish to blanket exemptions, and public stress has risen as a result of manpower shortages brought on by the lengthy ongoing struggle.
Many ultra-Orthodox Jews consider that navy service is incompatible with their lifestyle, and concern that those that enlist will probably be secularized.
Israelis who do serve, nonetheless, say the decades-long association of mass exemptions unfairly burdens them, a sentiment that has intensified for the reason that October 7, 2023, Hamas onslaught and the following struggle, during which almost 900 troopers have been killed and a few 300,000 residents referred to as as much as reserve responsibility.
