The October 7th Massacre and the war that has followed has had a profound effect on many aspects of Israeli society, including on the issue of Haredi men serving in the IDF. National Religious Israelis are speaking out in an unprecedented way. They are calling on Ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) yeshiva students to do their part in this milchemet mitzvah, obligatory war.
National Religious leaders such as Rabbi Tamir Granot, Rosh Yeshiva of Orot Shaul hesder yeshiva in Tel Aviv, whose son Amitai fell in battle on October 15th, 2023, has spoken to the Knesset and other public venues. He said turning to Haredi yeshiva students, “So go to your rabbis and tell them: ‘Let’s not behave like frightened little children, as if the army can’t accommodate us. We want to fulfill the commandment of the Torah. We want to be partners among the Jewish People. We want to join the army. Let’s join the army, and we will see how we can make it work, how we can find the right and proper arrangements – like the hesder yeshivot have, and even better than that.'”
Since David Ben Gurion’s deferment for 400 Haredi yeshiva students in 1948 in the wake of the Holocaust, the question has become increasingly divisive in Israeli politics. Most Haredim believe that military service threatens their community’s existence. Secular leaders such as Yair Lapid, Avigdor Lieberman, and Gadi Eisenkot have been outspoken about the need for Haredi men to serve equally. Even talk of requiring Haredim enlistment has led to pressure to dissolve governments, and set off sometimes violent protests; it has generally seemed there simply is no viable solution. Although National Religious Israelis have always seen military service as an expression of Torah learning and an observant lifestyle, the leaders have been quiet regarding other Torah observant men, Haredim needing to also serve. Until now.
As the war is now in its second year, Israelis have all become more outspoken that Haredim enlist, including in the National Religious community. The simple reality is that more soldiers are needed. Over 800 Israeli soldiers have been killed and over 5,000 have been injured since October 7th, 2023. Most reservists have been called up multiple times. It has become clear for many reasons that all of Israeli society must serve. The determination for Haredim to serve includes loud voices from the National Religious circles which were previously muted. What was previously a two-sided debate has become multi-faceted and intensified.
Fighting wars since before its establishment, with mandatory conscription and reserve service, military service is a core value of Israeli society. Serving in the army is generally seen not only as a national security need, but as an expression of Israeli values: equality, national responsibility, social integration, and participation in the economy. As the Haredi population is approximately 17 percent of the Jewish Israeli population and has a large part of the vote, the Haredi demands for exemption are powerful in politics. Haredi parties often threaten to disolve government coalitions over this issue. Many secular Israelis feel that Haredim being exempt while receiving government support is becoming more problematic as the Haredi community grows.
Attempts have been made to regulate the issue through legislation. The Tal Law which legalized the exemption in 2002, was later overturned. Under the Tal Law men had the option of declaring Torah learning as their profession (Torato Umanuto) enabling them to be exempt from military service. This meant, however, that their entry into the tax-paying workforce was severely delayed which is an additional problem for Israel. In 2014, the Shaked committee passed a bill to initiate Haredi service in stages which was the beginning of this type of legislation. In the Spring of 2024, the Supreme Court declared unequivocally that there is no legal basis for a Haredi exemption. However, despite various attempts the IDF is not succeeding in drafting Haredim. Before the Swords of Iron War, although secular Israelis theoretically wanted Haredi participation, there was also simultaneous thinking that a smaller technologically advanced army was sufficient. There were some who thought that perhaps the army would be better off without the Haredim because they cost the army more due to requirements for more strictly kosher food and having to pay more money soldiers who marry and have children at the same age as they would be recruited. Also, there was fear that Haredim would compromise the army with demands such as limiting the role of women. Thus, no significant change had been made in over 75 years. However, now secular Israelis felt complacency is not an option. A larger army is clearly needed. “’This is the moment of truth for Israeli society,’ said Opposition Leader Yair Lapid about the Haredi draft.
Haredim approach the state and army with hesitancy because it is secular and the Messiah has not yet come. According to Michael Brenner in the Conversation, “Historically, Orthodox Jews … prayed for centuries to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple, but had a specific return in mind: a Jewish state established by the Messiah. Any other kind of Jewish sovereignty, they believed, would be blasphemy.” Therefore, although they are living in the Jewish State, they believe they are still in exile (galut) under any other state. They fear that if Haredi boys serve in the army, the influences there will destroy the fabric of Haredi society. Isolating themselves from Israeli society – including refusing to serve in the army – feels essential to the survival of their community which means, for them, the survival of Torah. At the same time, the Haredi world values its role of protecting the Jewish people with its prayers and Torah learning. Thus, they have responded with what many feel are extreme statements. Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, a former Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel, said “anyone who receives a draft notice should tear it up and not go,” and, “(A yeshiva student) is a soldier in the army of God.” In other words, he was saying that a yeshiva student is doing as much to protect the country as one who is serving in the army, and therefore, should not serve. At the beginning of the war, there were some Haredim who enlisted, however, most Haredim have not changed their views.
The most significant change in the debate is in the National Religious community. Although the National Religious community sees military service as a religious value, the leaders have been quiet in this debate over the years. Although many learn in Hesder yeshivas which means their initial army service is shortened, most men serve in the army and go on to become officers and to serve in the reserves. There are estimates that 40% of those graduating from the army’s infantry officer schools now come from a National Religious community that only accounts for approximately 14% of Jewish Israeli society. National Religious soldiers have fallen in the Swords of Iron War in a similarly disproportionate percentage.
When Hamas infiltrated Israel on October 7th, a holy day which was both Shabbat and Simchat Torah, the National Religious world left their synagogues to drive down to fight. This was the beginning of a major change in the debate. “One such hero is Elchanan Kalmanson. This is the story of a father of five who jumped in his car, saved tens of lives, and died al Kiddush Hashem (for the sanctification of God’s name)” (World Mizrahi website). For the National Religious, it was a Jewish value to fight and they made up a disproportional percentage of the over 300,000 reservists who fought in the war. However, as the death toll of fallen national religious soldiers has risen, the months of reserve service has dragged on, and some Haredi leaders made very offensive statements, some leaders of the National Religious community have begun to speak out against the Haredi refusal to serve in the military. Their contribution to the debate is changing the manner of discussion from one that is oppositional to one of more understanding all sides.
A few months ago, Rabbi Granot offered a proposed solution at the Knesset and in other forums, particularly in response to Rabbi Yosef’s statements against Haredim serving in the army. Rabbi Granot’s approach is a combination of sensitivity to the unique needs of the Haredi community while at the same time insisting that Haredi men serve for their own sake and the sake of the country. Rabbi Granot called on the former cheif rabbi to go to Amitai’s grave in the Mt. Herzl Cemetery to apologize personally to him for what he has said about serving in the army.
The National Religious approach tends to be more source-based than the Haredi one, and also, uniquely, speaks to Haredim as a fellow religious brothers. Rabbi Granot considers fighting for Israel to be fighting an obligatory war, milchemet mitzvah. He quotes the Rambam who does not state Torah study as a valid reason for exemption from fighting, and Leviticus 19:16, “You shall not stand idly by as your brother’s blood is shed. Granot explains that serving in the IDF is a mitzvah, “(Amitai) occupied himself with the mitzvah of saving lives, and to bear the burden of this battle alongside his friends. And for those same reasons 18 boys from the Eli Yeshiva have been killed…and students of many other yeshivot throughout the country, to take responsibility and fulfill the mitzvot.”
Granot said, “You (Haredim) think it’s like the Czar’s army or one of those old evil decrees against the Jewish people. So you can protest and yell. The army is reaching its hand out to ask for help from all of us. The people of Israel need you…for the partnership. To protect you and all of us.” Granot says that just because a secular Israeli leader asks you to serve, doesn’t mean it’s not the right thing to do. He says that it’s not Lapid and Lieberman asking, it’s the Holy One blessed be He and the Holy Torah” He quotes, “Will you brothers go to war and you just sit here?” (Numbers 32:6).
He says there is no Haredi person who actually believes that Torah learning is a legitimate reason not to go to war. They are not concerned about the Torah learning of the individual student, but about protecting the “Torah world” that was rebuilt after the Holocaust.
The National Religious world is changing the nature of the debate, and perhaps this will lead to better results. With the compassion and sternness of a Rosh Yeshiva, Granot addresses the Haredi student directly saying that the students need to act with maturity and responsibility and not to blame the army or governement. Rather, he says, “At least be honest and say its because … you fear the danger in encountering the outside world…Tell your rabbis, ‘We want to fulfill the mitzvah.’ Let’s see how it can be done, like was done for Yeshivot Hesder.” Granot feels the students can come out even stronger; their Torah will be even more complete.
He addresses secular Israelis, telling them also to negotiate responsibly. He says, “You, our secular brothers, say to the Haredim, ‘We will never harm them. We want the yeshivot, everyone in their way … we will support yeshivot if you will be partners.’” Taking the role of a mediator and someone ideologically in the middle, Granot asks both sides to treat each other with respect. He says that the secular world needs to understand that without the Torah, we would not be here. He suggests a new law called a “Law for Torah Learning” in which large sums would be guaranteed to the Haredi yeshivot, but anyone who does not serve as required will not receive funding.
Similarly, outspoken National Religious women like Noa Mevorach, are gaining a lot of support. The organization Shutafut L’Sherut has over 4,000 members and is continuing to grow through presence on social media and networks. Mevorach recently posted a video on Facebook in which she says, “We have a Torah obligation to serve in the IDF. It’s not a matter of choice…Rule #1: Everyone serves without exemption. Rule 2: Invidual Responsibility. Each individual is required to enlist, it is not a community issue. Rule 3: If you don’t serve, you receive no benefits from the State. 4: Making service work for the Haredi lifestyle. Yes, it sounds complicated. But remember that the State of Israel and the IDF have done more complicated projects. As they have said before me (Herzl), “If you will it, it is no dream.”
For over 75 years, the issue of Haredi men serving in the army has been unresolved. There has been anger in the secular and Haredi sectors. Perhaps the National Religious taking a more active part in the discussions, proposing ideas that are more understanding and respectful to both sides, will help lead to resolutions to the issue of Haredi men serving in the IDF which have otherwise reached a stalemate. The pressure of the war on Israeli society in general, may perhaps force everyone to come up with solutions that haven’t been possible previously.
