Over 50,000 IDF draft orders to ultra-Orthodox Jews scheduled for July
The announcement means that the IDF will be summoning the entire "pool" of eligible haredi men, in addition to the 24,000 haredim who already received initial draft orders since July 2024.
The IDF intends to send out 54,000 initial draft orders (tzav rishon) for eligible haredi (ultra-Orthodox) men sometime next month, Brig.-Gen. Shai Tayeb, head of the IDF Personnel Directorate’s Planning and Personnel Management Division, said Wednesday.
That means the IDF will be summoning all eligible haredim in addition to the 24,000 who have already received initial draft orders since last July.
The dates for draftees to report are to be spread out between July 2025 and June 2026, Tayeb said at a meeting of the Knesset IDF Human Resources Subcommittee. In addition to the increase in draft orders, the IDF intends to “increase enforcement activities” against those who ignore them, he said.
Meanwhile, negotiations are continuing concerning a bill that would likely require 50% of eligible haredim to enlist. The current legal situation, however, is based on a High Court of Justice ruling in June 2024, which states that haredim are required to enlist just as all other civilians.
Plans to draft more haredim
The IDF promised the court that it would draft 4,800 haredim in the 2025-2026 draft year (ending on June 30). But it has said it would not meet that goal and may not even reach half of it due to the low numbers of haredim who have obeyed their draft orders.“The main significance of this change is that we are shifting the responsibility for reporting to the individual,” Tayeb said during the meeting, which was chaired by Yesh Atid MK Elazar Stern.
“We are removing a significant part of what is referred to as ‘awareness checks,’ meaning attempts to communicate and ensure 100% that the individual is aware. This move is expected to significantly shorten the process. Minimum time lines [of enforcement] should be reduced to roughly four months.”
“We intend to carry out increased enforcement activity and to introduce more creative measures that will encounter individuals not only at Ben-Gurion Airport but also through mobile arrest units and more,” he said. “This will be coordinated with the Military Police, which has other operational tasks, and with the Israel Police. This step is dependent on regulating our detention facilities, where we currently face limitations.”
The system is expected to be “significantly more impactful in terms of numbers and more effective overall,” he added.The system “will not cover everyone, since we’re talking about a very large population to enforce against,” Tayeb said. “So while it will be effective, it won’t reach everyone in a short time frame.”
Stern said at the meeting: “We see that the army intends to do everything possible to expand its ranks. This morning, there’s a kind of announcement, both in terms of numbers and timelines. It won’t happen overnight, but it gives hope to those serving that in a year or two, the State of Israel will start to see many more people bearing the burden.”
