The conscription law under occupation... a turning point in the relationship between the Haredim and the government.

The recent protests by the Haredi Jews against the Israeli occupation army's steps to draft them represent the peak of the crisis between them and the government, and the possibility of their complete withdrawal from it. Approximately two hundred thousand participated in what is known as the "Million March," rejecting the mandatory conscription law that the government is trying to pass. Bus and train stations witnessed massive chaos and traffic jams.

General Ram Amihai, the former head of the budget department at the Ministry of Defense, confirmed that "within two months, something will happen that hasn't occurred in fifty years in the State of Israel, which is the submission of reports about thousands of Haredi youths to the army. This time, it is not just about the margins, but about members of religious institutions who have already received mandatory conscription orders, with the reporting date starting in January of next year. These are unprecedented numbers of extremist Jews who are not asked to undergo tests or surveys, but for a real order - to come and wear the army uniform."

He added in an article published by Yedioth Ahronoth, translated by Arabi21, that "conscription does not occur before the age of 18, so the orders that began to be sent in the summer of 2024 bear a conscription date starting from January 18, 2026. This is a real change this time, not only for those who left their studies in religious institutions but for everyone, without examination or sorting, which means that 1,200 Haredi youths will be asked to report for conscription and wear the uniform."

He pointed out that "in July 2025, summons orders were sent to 54,000 older Haredim who can no longer serve as combatants, and the army does not need them. On the contrary, they may become another layer of bureaucrats that harm its internal system. However, among the tens of thousands, there are also thousands who are 18 years old, and they will receive a real conscription order immediately after the reporting date of the first order, an order for conscription and wearing the uniform, and this is how the army is acting now."

He confirmed that "in the period of 2026-2027, it is expected that 42,000 ultra-Orthodox youths aged 18 to 19 will reach the conscription date, which has not happened in fifty years, since Rabbi Shick and Rabbi Magor managed to work with the late Prime Minister Menachem Begin and find many tricks to evade the conscription law. However, what concerns the ultra-Orthodox leadership is not that there will be tens of thousands of defectors, but rather that they will come to the ranks of the army, and Haredi youths will begin to appear among the other soldiers."

He explained that "the low rate of Haredi participation in the army so far is due to several factors: the first is that most of them did not receive the conscription order that was due, and the second is that there has been a deep discrimination between ultra-Orthodox in religious schools and ultra-Orthodox, so those who wear the uniform are considered second-class. Now, when the conscription law is applied to everyone, this discrimination will erode.

This Israeli reading coincides with the ongoing crisis within the government coalition itself, against the backdrop of the conscription law that has exempted Haredim from military service for decades, and is now pushing to pass a conscription bill that grants its members exemptions, claiming that it contradicts the spirit of the Torah, constitutes an assault on the identity of the Torah community, and infringes on the freedom to study religion. The opposition refers to it as the military service evasion law.