Jerusalem, 31 July, 2025 (TPS-IL) — The Israeli Defense Forces completed the distribution of 54,000 first-order draft summonses to Orthodox men, the army said on Wednesday night, signaling the start of a new enforcement phase that will further strain Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. Arrest operations are expected to begin in September for Orthodox Haredi men who fail to report for recruitment.
This large-scale draft effort coincided with a high-level emergency conference of Haredi rabbinic leaders, who declared total opposition to the draft. “It is forbidden to go into a military framework under any circumstances,” read a joint statement. “Every young man and woman must stand firm in their faith and not be tempted to go into the army.”
Rabbi Meir Zvi Bergman, a senior figure in the Degel HaTorah faction of the United Torah Judaism party, warned that “a Haredi who enters the army does not leave it as a Haredi” and called on students to resist, even at great personal cost.
In total, the army has now issued approximately 78,000 summonses to Haredi men between the ages of 17.5-28 during the 2024 draft year. The IDF clarified that this stage constitutes only the “first order” — an initial call to appear at a recruitment office. Failure to respond triggers a second and third order, followed by a warning, and ultimately an arrest warrant.
Arrest operations, coordinated with the israel Police, will focus on public spaces such as city entry points, intersections, and Ben Gurion Airport. Haredi men who ignore their summonses may be declared fugitives within six weeks of noncompliance.
At the same time, the army emphasized its intent to respect the lifestyle needs of Haredi recruits. “The IDF will continue to act according to the law and directives of the political echelon,” said a military spokesperson, “and will do everything in its power to expand recruitment and adapt the conditions of service to the Haredi population.”
Netanyahu’s Haredi partners, Shas and United Torah Judaism, quit the government in mid-July over the government’s stalled legislative efforts to grant exemptions to yeshiva students.
The move technically leaves Netanyahu’s government with 50 of the Knesset’s 120 seats. However, it came shortly before the start of the Knesset’s summer recess, giving the Prime Minister time to resolve the issue.
Haredi men in Israel are generally exempt from mandatory military service if they study full-time in religious seminaries, known as yeshivot. The issue has long divided Israeli society and remains politically sensitive, especially during wartime. Shas and UTJ insist on preserving these exemptions as a matter of religious principle and community identity.
However, public opposition has grown. After nearly 22 months of war, many Israelis view the policy as unequal.
The military began making plans to draft yeshiva students after Israel’s High Court of Justice ruled in in 2024 that exemptions for the Haredi community were illegal.
Military service is compulsory for all Israeli citizens. However, Israel’s first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, and the country’s leading rabbis agreed to a status quo that deferred military service for Haredi men studying in yeshivot, or religious institutions. At the time, no more than several hundred men were studying in yeshivot.
The Orthodox community has grown significantly since Israel’s founding. In January 2023, the Central Bureau of Statistics reported that Haredim are Israel’s fastest-growing community and projected it would constitute 16% of the population by the end of the decade. According to the Israel Democracy Institute, the number of yeshiva students exceeded 138,000 in 2021.
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