As thousands of men hurried towards the main square in Jerusalem\u2019s ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Mea Shearim on Sunday for a protest, they passed signs declaring \u201cwar\u201d on a contentious order from Israel\u2019s highest court. <\/p>\n
The Supreme Court ruling on June 25 said the Israeli government must enlist draft-age ultra-Orthodox (or Haredi) Jews into the military, reversing a de facto exemption in place since the country\u2019s founding 76 years ago. <\/p>\n
Sunday\u2019s rally in Shabbat Square, which drew thousands, was to demonstrate against the decision, which another poster said had \u201cthrust a sword\u201d through the \u201cbeit midrash,\u201d or Torah study hall. <\/p>\n
The protest highlighted the fault line in Israeli society between ultra-Orthodox Jews, who Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu relies on to maintain his government, and other Israelis, many of whom believe that all Jewish citizens should serve in the military, especially during wartime. <\/p>\n
Many Haredi men spend much of their early lives out of the workforce, instead studying at religious schools known as yeshivas that are partly funded through government subsidies. <\/p>\n
For many Haredis, the idea that they would be pulled from studying scripture and drafted into Israel\u2019s military is simply out of the question. <\/p>\n
An arrangement made during Israel\u2019s founding exempted several hundred Haredi men from conscription. However, the community has since grown exponentially, allowing tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox men to now avoid the draft. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe will not enlist,\u201d said Yosef, 22, who traveled to the protest from his home in Beitar Illit, a large Haredi settlement in the occupied West Bank. <\/p>\n
\u201cSince the beginning of the state (of Israel), we have not enlisted\u2026 Now they want to make us (serve) by force. It will never work,\u201d he said. \u201cIn a democratic state there is not much they can do besides put us in prison. We are not afraid of prison. We laugh about prison\u2026 and the more people that go into prison, the more demonstrations there will be in the country.\u201d <\/p>\n
As Yosef spoke, he looked up at a group of boys climbing a ladder to a nearby lamppost to hang a sign that read: \u201cWe will not enlist in the army.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t watch as they tear the Torah to shreds,\u201d said another man, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, due to the cultural norms of his community, some of whom are not open to speaking to the press. \u201cWe can\u2019t be quiet. The High Court, the government, all the Knesset (parliament)\u2026 they are looking for ways for compromise and to send Haredi boys to be destroyed. We will die rather than be enlisted.\u201d <\/p>\n
The clashes between some protesters and police following the gathering in Mea Shearim underscored the depth of emotion in the ultra-Orthodox community, many of whom believe that serving in the military is incompatible with their way of life. <\/p>\n
Some ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods like Mea Shearim shun modern technology. A man at Sunday\u2019s protest held a placard stating: \u201cLife is happy only without internet and films.\u201d <\/p>\n
Five people were arrested in confrontations after some threw rocks, set trash cans on fire and attacked the car of Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf, himself a Haredi Jew. <\/p>\n
He said that for many Haredis, the court\u2019s decision won\u2019t change their stance, adding that many said they would \u201cneed to starve because they\u2019re not going to have money to buy food,\u201d referring to the court\u2019s edict that the government must withdraw funding from any yeshivas whose students do not comply with draft notices. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey still refuse to join the Israeli army. They (say they) are just not worried about it. And they trust in God, that God is going to help them,\u201d said Farber, who writes for the ultra-Orthodox Hadrei Haredim website. <\/p>\n
Given that most other Israeli Jews are required to serve in the military, the Haredi exemption, \u201cwhile relying on disproportionate government subsidies,\u201d has fostered significant resentment among non-Haredi Jews, according to the Israel Policy Forum. <\/p>\n
The issue came to a head after Israel invaded Gaza following Hamas\u2019 October 7 attack, when the IDF initiated the largest mandatory military mobilization since the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. <\/p>\n
Some lawmakers in Netanyahu\u2019s own coalition have joined the opposition in pushing for the Haredi community to enlist. <\/p>\n
Despite the court ruling, the military is unlikely to immediately call-up all draft-age Haredi men. The Attorney General\u2019s office said the IDF \u201chad committed to recruiting 3,000 yeshiva students in the current recruitment year.\u201d <\/p>\n
Amichai Milici, a 45-year-old army veteran and father of seven who now studies full-time at a yeshiva, said the IDF isn\u2019t ready to absorb more ultra-Orthodox men yet. <\/p>\n
He insists that any man who wants to study the Torah should remain exempt from military service, arguing that religious studies and the defense of Israel are intertwined and essential for the nation\u2019s well-being. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe study of the Torah is central to the existence of the Jewish people,\u201d he said. \u201cThe Jewish need the army and need the Torah\u2026 The Torah is giving power to the soldiers, and the soldiers are giving power to the Torah.\u201d <\/p>\n
Many fear that mass enlistment could change the way of life in their insular neighborhoods. <\/p>\n
Farber, the Haredi journalist who once served in the IDF, said ultra-Orthodox rabbis may be worried about losing their influence. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe Haredi leaders, spiritual leaders\u2026 are very, very afraid that they are going to see thousands of young Haredi boys in uniform in (ultra-) Orthodox neighborhoods,\u201d he said. \u201cThey are afraid that being a soldier in the Haredi community will become something normal. And if you go into the IDF, you (might) start getting different ideas,\u201d he said. \u201cYou start opening your head to other opinions\u2026 and nobody\u2019s going to listen to the rabbis anymore.\u201d <\/p>\n
Netanyahu\u2019s Likud party said in response to the Supreme Court ruling that it hoped to pass a \u201chistoric conscription law\u201d which would \u201csignificantly increase the recruitment rates\u201d of ultra-Orthodox men but also \u201crecognize the importance of Torah study\u201d \u2014 raising the possibility of the exemption continuing for a smaller number of yeshiva students. <\/p>\n
\u201cIn terms of legislative process (we are) stuck,\u201d the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss sensitive political matters candidly, said. \u201cI\u2019d be surprised if they (the Ministry of Defense) forcefully tried to recruit people against their will, even though it\u2019s the law. But it puts them in a very difficult spot now because the court ruling was so clear.\u201d <\/p>\n
The source said it was unclear what would happen to draft-dodgers. Prison is the final step in a process that starts with denying passport issuances and holding back benefits. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo it could be that we see that sort of process for a large number of ultra-Orthodox men. How much that impacts their lives, I don\u2019t know.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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