ANDThe Israeli army announced on Tuesday that it will issue summons notices to ultra-Orthodox youth starting on Sunday, with the aim of recruiting them. in the midst of the war with Hamas in Gaza and the escalation with Hezbollah on the northern border, despite the vehement opposition of this religious sector.
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The decision “is part of the Israel Defense Forces’ program to promote the integration of members of the ultra-Orthodox community into its ranks,” so “on Sunday, July 21, 2024, the process of issuing summons orders for evaluation will begin (…) in view of the next recruitment cycle that began in July,” the Army said in a statement.
The military is “working to recruit people from all sectors of society in light of the recruitment requirement in Israel, due to its status as a People’s Army and in view of the growing operational needs at this time, given the security challenges,” it added.
These orders are the first stage in the selection and evaluation process that the Army carries out for new recruits, before enlistment next year.
Ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) Jews have staged numerous protests in recent weeks against the forced integration of their young people into the army, after the Israeli Supreme Court ordered the government to take measures to increase the number of religious young people performing mandatory military service.
On Tuesday, following the army’s announcement, dozens of ultra-Orthodox protesters blocked a highway in Bnei Brak, in central Israel, a demonstration that the police described as “illegal” and ordered to be dispersed.
VIDEO | Ultra-Orthodox Jews protest against Israel’s Supreme Court decision to remove their military exemption.
Since the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, they had managed to avoid compulsory military service through a temporary provision that was renewed. pic.twitter.com/J5PFZHCoZH
— EFE News (@EFEnoticias) July 1, 2024
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant last week approved issuing draft orders to ultra-Orthodox, though he did not specify how many of the roughly 63,000 young Haredim of military age would receive draft orders.
However, the Israeli armed forces have already warned that By 2024 they would only be able to recruit 3,000, since ultra-Orthodox Jews have special requirements in areas such as diet or cohabitation with women, and the Army would have to accommodate new recruits in special battalions.
On Monday night, a mob of ultra-Orthodox militants attacked two army officers in Bnei Brak, on the outskirts of Tel Aviv, who were in the city for a meeting on the establishment of an ultra-Orthodox brigade.
The incident was condemned by broad sectors of Israeli politics, including Gallant and Yitzhak Goldknopf, leader of the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party, a key member of Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government.
Since the founding of the State of Israel in 1948, young men who study full-time in a Talmudic school (yeshiva) are exempt from military service, which is mandatory for much of Israeli society (Israeli Arabs are also exempt).
The exemption, which had been extended through special provisions until a few months ago, has always been a source of controversy, and even more so after the beginning of the war in Gaza against the Islamist group Hamas and the escalation on the border with Lebanon with the Shiite group Hezbollah, which have brought the Army to the brink of a personnel crisis.
Three weeks ago, the Supreme Court ruled that “there is no legal basis for excluding ultra-Orthodox men from conscription” and that if they do not serve in the military, they should not receive publicly funded educational and social assistance grants.
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