Posted on 07/15/25
| News Source: Arutz-7
Israel is currently seeing unprecedented steps on both sides of the issue of forcing haredim into service. Haredi parties have repeatedly threatened to boycott coalition votes, or even to dissolve the Knesset, if a total exemption for Yeshiva students is not written into law. UTJ MKs have begun tendering their resignations from government positions, and Prime Minister Netanyahu has begun holding intensive rounds of meetings in an attempt to keep the coalition together.
The IDF, for its part, has recently declared a large-scale recruitment operation among haredim, issuing tens of thousands of draft orders and expanding enforcement against evasion of service.
Haredim are not so estranged from Israel's security forces as one might believe, though. The deaths of five soldiers from the haredi Netzach Yehuda battalion in Beit Hanoun showed in vivid detail the degree to which haredim already take a frontline role in defending Israel, and the haredi community came out in the thousands to honor the fallen. It is clear that there exists at least some degree of compromise already. Where, and how, can haredim fight for Israel without giving up their way of life?
IDF Service
Numerous units in the IDF have been established to meet the unique needs of haredi soldiers. The Nahal Haredi program, Netzach Yehuda, the Tomer and Chetz units, and, more recently, the Hashmonaim Brigade were all established to allow haredi soldiers to serve in combat roles without compromising their lifestyle.
Haredim have also been included extensively in more standard units; the IAF has announced that its ranks include haredi technicians, firefighters, and air traffic controllers, and haredim are known to serve in the Intelligence and Cyber Directorates. The Shachar program was established to allow haredim to observe their beliefs in almost any unit by granting them a specific set of conditions for their service that preserve a haredi soldier's religious principles.
Although not often considered a combat role, haredi soldiers can frequently find meaningful service in the IDF Rabbinate, where their background gives them a more thorough understanding of many of the religious principles at work in specific questions of Jewish law.
For at least 40 years, the IDF has offered a program called Shlav Bet, or Stage Two, to attract individuals who are beyond the age for normal draft service. These soldiers undergo relatively brief basic training before being classified as reservists immediately and transferred into various roles in the IDF.
For many such soldiers, the program offers a way to bring their professional skills to the IDF without needing to negotiate the draft or civilian contractor system. Haredi soldiers, who may have been exempt from draft service at a younger age, can use Shlav Bet to preserve not only their lifestyle but also their career path.
Israel Police
The Israel Police offers multiple tracks for haredi officers, beginning from the same age as the IDF. A haredi track exists in the Border Police, which undergoes the same draft process as IDF soldiers, and has recently begun operational activity in the Jerusalem area. The Choshen program allows haredim to train as police commanders, and the 'Believing in the Police' program was established to replicate the success of the Hesder program in the IDF for yeshiva-age students.
Some options for haredim to carry out police service are closer to home. The position of community police officer is a crucial link between haredi communities and the police. Such officers patrol their home communities, coordinate with other emergency services if the need arises, and handle minor infractions and inquiries, frequently with negotiation and reconciliation instead of use of force or imposition of penalties. Their presence creates a much-needed avenue for haredim to approach and communicate with the police from a place of understanding and familiarity rather than bureaucracy or orders.
Since the October 7th massacre, the Israel Police have established a large number of civilian emergency squads in various towns and neighborhoods, including in haredi populations. Haredi cities like Beitar boast active local security forces, carrying out important daily security missions for their community while remaining in an entirely haredi setting.
Another track that is open to haredim requires an exemption from army service as a prerequisite. Working with Chaverim, the IDF offices that manage haredi enlistment in the army, the prospective officer will receive an exemption from army service as a yeshiva student before being enlisted in a special course that includes IDF basic training, police academy studies, and finally enlistment into the Israel Police's ranks with special conditions of service for a haredi officer. This service can either be carried out by a haredi officer without the exemption and be considered as IDF service, or as civilian security service for those with exemptions.
Israel Prison Service
Although not subject to the same draft options as the police, haredim are still eligible for prison service through the Ma'alot program, which aims to allow haredim to both contribute to the state and maintain their way of life. The program works through Israel's civilian national service network, a government body that allows eligible individuals to discharge their service obligations outside a military setting. As early as 2020, the Israel Prison Service had reported small but promising numbers of guards recruited from the haredi community. Some of the Prison Service's senior Rabbis are drawn from the haredi community as well, drawing on their experience and lifestyle to ensure that the religious needs of Jewish prisoners are met.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has repeatedly pressed for increased haredi involvement in both the police and the prison service, which is considered a subordinate body to the police. Among his initiatives has been a large benefits package for new officers; greater pay even for lower ranks; extra safeguards against specific issues of concern to haredim, in particular the issue of mixed-gender service; and attempts to have haredim who feel unwelcome in the IDF, from single soldiers to the entirety of Netzach Yehuda, transferred to the Border Police under his office.
Secret Services
Over recent years, the Mossad has launched the Pardes program to recruit haredi yeshiva students to its ranks. The program is named for a Talmudic story of sages who studied the deepest mysteries of the Torah and focuses on intelligence analysis, research and development, system operation, and operational planning. Pardes claims to use the analytical thinking and knowledge retention skills developed by years of intensive yeshiva study to meet the challenges presented by Israel's security. A recent advertising campaign for the program has noted that it is adding the use of predictive AI to its curriculum and allowing graduates to take a more active part in counter-terror operations.
In the ISA's Kodcode program, haredim learn programming and software development skills, working both with the ISA and elite IDF intelligence units. This program emphasizes not only teaching the skills needed for security challenges, but ensuring that the graduates will be able to join Israel's larger job market afterwards.
A more dubious field of engagement for haredim has been in the ISA's Jewish Department, where haredi agents have allegedly been used to clandestinely approach Jewish individuals suspected of acts of terror and gather information on them without raising suspicion.
Journalist Amit Segal announced that one member of the Israeli commando teams that had operated on Iranian soil during Operation Rising Lion had not only been a haredi, but also from a relatively conservative Hassidic court.
Haredi Women
Although the enlistment rates are lower among women than men, Israel's security forces take pains to make sure that the haredi tracks are open to women as well. These programs receive relatively little media attention, but have been quietly underway for years. With the October 7th massacre, the IDF increased recruitment efforts to meet the growing manpower needs of the army and allow more women to contribute to the war effort.
The strict religious guidelines for these programs have made them a viable option for women who, while not haredi, would otherwise have found their religious lifestyle incompatible with army service. Religious Jewish women in Israel are eligible for an exemption from military service solely on the basis of being a religious woman. By entering a haredi women's unit, they can serve Israel while still adhering to their religious lifestyle.
A noted exception to this, thus far, has been the haredi combat units in the IDF, where the conditions of service require complete gender separation. Interest among haredi women has not yet proven high enough to warrant opening a parallel track for a haredi female combat unit.
Alternatives
Various parties have suggested possible alternatives for military service for haredim. In principle, most such plans state that a haredi individual could take on a longer period of service to the state in a service that would not require residing outside of a haredi community.
Some of the options for these have included EMT service in the MDA; conservation work in the Nature and Parks Authority; volunteering in haredi-founded organizations such as ZAKA, the Yedidim roadside assistance NPO, or United Hatzalah; or enlisting in the Fire and Rescue Service, which recently welcomed several haredi graduates to active service.
Public reaction to such options has often been mixed. While there has been little doubt as to the benefit these organizations offer to the state, many in Israel do not believe that anything may be considered a substitute for the IDF. As such, proposed alternative service plans often include a priority clause for the IDF. These clauses aim to ensure that only those not fit for combat can seek to serve in another body, or that the term of service needed in another organization will be longer.
To date, none of these proposals has yet been passed into law, despite attempts from both coalition and opposition parties to bring them to second and third readings.
Looking Forward
Israel's security forces and haredi communities have been at odds since the days of David Ben-Gurion. Since the October 7th massacre, there have been solutions proposed that cover nearly every possible extreme and middle ground, without success, and the IDF's grim warning that tens of thousands of additional soldiers will be needed in the coming years continues to loom.
Although it is clear that there is a long way to go, though, asking haredim to take part in Israel's defense is far from a lost cause. Wherever haredim have enlisted, they are generally seen as exceeding expectations for their role. Their presence throughout Israel's security forces is proof that every problem can be solved, making Israel both more secure and more unified at once.