Israel to issue over 50,000 conscription orders for ultra-Orthodox students amid coalition crisis
Shas party says it will join United Torah Judaism alliance in seeking to dissolve Knesset, topple Netanyahu’s government due to conscription impasse
Ultra-Orthodox Jews protest against conscription in Israel, on January 15, 2025, in Tel Aviv, Israel.
JERUSALEM/ISTANBUL
Israeli Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara announced Thursday that the army will issue over 50,000 mandatory conscription orders to ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) yeshiva students in July.
The announcement came after her meeting with senior Israeli army officials, Israel’s public broadcaster KAN reported.
Baharav-Miara stressed that the matter of drafting Haredim “is not progressing sufficiently, as the army urgently needs new recruits, which requires imposing personal sanctions on draft evaders,” KAN said.
This comes amid an escalating crisis over the conscription of religious students, threatening the stability of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
On Wednesday, the ultra-Orthodox Shas party announced that it would join the United Torah Judaism alliance in seeking to dissolve Israel’s Knesset, or parliament, and topple Netanyahu’s government due to the conscription impasse, according to Israeli media.
Israeli outlets including Yedioth Ahronoth and Haaretz reported that senior rabbis from ultra-Orthodox parties have called for withdrawing from the coalition because of the ongoing deadlock in legislating a military draft exemption law for religious Jews.
Netanyahu, whose corruption trial has entered a critical stage, is trying to preserve his government, which has been accused of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza for the past 20 months.
His government has been in power since late December 2022. If elections are not brought forward, the next scheduled vote will be in 2026.
Ultra-Orthodox communities continue to protest against military service following a June 25, 2024 Supreme Court ruling obliging them to enlist and prohibiting financial support for religious institutions whose students refuse to serve.
Haredim account for about 13% of Israel’s 10 million citizens. They oppose military service on religious grounds, arguing that studying the Torah is their primary duty and that integration into secular society threatens their religious identity and community cohesion.
For decades, Haredi men have received repeated draft deferments on the basis of religious studies until they reach the exemption age, currently set at 26.
The Israeli opposition has accused Netanyahu of attempting to pass legislation exempting Haredim from service to satisfy coalition partners and avoid a government collapse.
