The online version of the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper emphasized that without extending mandatory military service to the Haredim (ultra-Orthodox), the Armed Forces (IDF) will not be able to fulfill their missions in the long term.

While the IDF warns of a shortage of thousands of combatants and support personnel, the political system remains deadlocked over a mandatory conscription law, the newspaper stressed.

This is a top-priority strategic problem due to the lack of soldiers, it emphasized.

Since the founding of Israel in 1948, the Haredim have been exempt from military service, a decision rejected by broad sectors of the country, especially now that the Armed Forces are exhausted after 32 months of war in the region.

On June 25, 2024, the Supreme Court ruled that religious students must perform mandatory military service and suspended financial support for religious institutions whose students refuse to be drafted.

The measure cuased outrage from that sector, particularly from the Shas party and the United Torah Judaism bloc, allies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Haaretz newspaper also warned of a “personnel crisis within the Israeli army,” which has led to “an increasing burden on military operations (and) ongoing daily friction.”

An officer, quoted by Channel 13, confirmed the problem, noting the urgent need to increase recruitment in both the regular army and the reserves. “We have been warning about the troop shortage for a long time. We need more soldiers, more personnel, in Gaza, in the West Bank, in Lebanon,” he said.

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