IDF Spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin hinted Friday at the army’s support for imposing personal sanctions on ultra-Orthodox draft dodgers, saying that “the sanctions the IDF can impose are not sufficient—we’ll need a broader and more complementary solution.”
Defrin, when asked about the chief of staff’s position on personal sanctions, said the military is currently short more than 10,000 soldiers. As Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara stated Thursday, tens of thousands of additional draft notices will be issued in the upcoming enlistment year, which begins next month.
“This is the call of the hour and a real operational necessity,” Defrin said. “We are taking all necessary steps, including sending draft orders to 16-and-a-half-year-olds, and tens of thousands more will be issued in the coming year. As for enforcement, the sanctions the IDF can apply are insufficient. We’ll need a more comprehensive and coordinated response.”
Defrin’s remarks came amid a deepening political crisis with the ultra-Orthodox parties, threatening the stability of the coalition. The Haredi parties are demanding a law that will formally exempt yeshiva students from military service. While that law has yet to pass, the attorney general announced that the IDF will issue more than 50,000 draft notices to yeshiva students this July and present an enforcement plan targeting draft evaders.
The plan, presented to the attorney general by senior military officials, including the head of the IDF’s Manpower Directorate, includes increased enforcement efforts in the coming weeks. The military also decided to shorten the time between issuing draft notices and officially declaring someone a draft evader, meaning more Haredim could soon be designated as such.
A late-night meeting between government officials managed to resolve some of the disputes surrounding the exemption bill, but the crisis remains far from over. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that in a meeting with Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chair Yuli Edelstein and Haredi representatives, “significant progress” had been made. Haredi sources said Edelstein had “climbed down from the tree” regarding the scope and enforcement of the sanctions, but the central disagreement remains unresolved: what counts as meeting ultra-Orthodox enlistment targets.
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According to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office, “an effort will be made to finalize the outstanding issues.” The meeting ended with Haredi leaders saying they would consult with their rabbis and resume discussions later. Still, members of the United Torah Judaism party expressed anger at Netanyahu, asking, “Where has he been until now, and why did he intervene so late in the process?”
For now, the Haredi parties are continuing to push forward with a proposal to dissolve the Knesset. Until a finalized bill is ready for a vote, they are not accepting the “significant progress” Netanyahu claimed.
In recent days, the Haredi parties accused Edelstein of pushing to include a list of harsh personal sanctions in the draft law targeting those who evade service. These include: canceling municipal tax discounts; removing income tax credit points; denying eligibility for subsidized housing; imposing a purchase tax even on first homes; canceling academic tuition subsidies; revoking driver’s license eligibility; barring travel abroad; ending daycare subsidies; and eliminating public transportation discounts.