Amid escalating tensions surrounding the draft law debate in Israel, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi has reportedly instructed military authorities to intensify enforcement against chareidim who fail to report after receiving draft orders.
According to a report aired Monday evening by journalist Yoeli Barim on Channel 13 News, the Chief of Staff has directed the army to adopt a stricter stance toward mitchayevim—young men from the chareidi sector who received call-up orders but failed to appear at draft offices. Under the new directive, every chareidi man who does not show up will be treated as violating the law and may face criminal sanctions.
This development follows Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s remarks on Sunday, made during a classified session of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, in which he laid out his expectation that 10,500 chareidim will be drafted into the IDF over the next two years.
“The draft law that emerged from the committee is the law that will stand,” Netanyahu said, noting that while he had previously refrained from commenting publicly, he now expects more significant participation from the chareidi sector. “The chareidim will contribute more than anyone who came before them. No one has succeeded until now.”
Netanyahu also emphasized that the military’s target of 10,500 new chareidi recruits is “a number the army can realistically absorb.” He added, “We will also ensure that there are significant individual and institutional penalties for noncompliance.”
Attempting to soften the blow, Netanyahu insisted: “We will make sure that anyone who enters the army as a chareidi will leave the army as a chareidi. I deeply respect those who study Torah, but the time has come for the chareidim to give more.”
{Matzav.com Israel}