Posted on 07/18/24
| News Source: JPost
Jerusalem, Israel - Juy 18, 2024 - Defense Minister Yoav Gallant approved on Thursday the sending out of approximately 1,000 draft orders to haredi men on Sunday, marking the first orders sent out since a landmark ruling by Israel's High Court of Justice in June that officially ended the long-standing haredi exemption from IDF service.
According to a statement put out by the defense ministry, the IDF intends to send out 1,000 draft orders in three waves, in order to meet its goal of 3,000 haredi draftees this year, in addition to the 1,800 who were slated to join existing IDF frameworks.
The IDF will conduct a "learning process" at the end of each wave, in order to improve the process for the next wave, the statement read. The second wave will occur in approximately two weeks, and the third two weeks later, Brig.-Gen. Relli Margalit from the IDF's Operations Branch said in a meeting in the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee (FADC) later on Thursday afternoon.
The IDF traditionally drafts three times a year, roughly in March, July, and November. The current orders are being sent out as part of the July draft, and haredi draft plans for the next two rounds will be set "according to haredi turnout" in the current draft.
The statement mentioned the IDF's policy of "successful recruitment," which has been criticized by Members of Knesset, mostly from the opposition. The policy is to target haredi men that IDF believes have a high potential to actually show up and serve, and not avoid the orders or be found incapable. The IDF thus said it would begin by summoning those who are part of the workforce, and as such are already partially integrated into Israeli society, or young adults who dropped out of yeshivot and were idle or working off the books.