Should Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community be required to serve in the military? Israel Today editors Ryan Jones (reporting from Jerusalem) and David Shishkoff (in the Galilee) sit down to unpack the Haredi draft, the conscription of ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) Jewish men into the IDF, and why it has become one of the most divisive issues in the country ahead of national elections.
For decades, most Haredi men have been exempt from Israel’s mandatory military service so they can devote themselves to full-time Torah and Talmud study. But after years of war and a severe shortage of combat soldiers, many secular and national-religious Israelis, who serve tour after tour of reserve duty, increasingly see the arrangement as unfair. Ryan and David explain the deep religious and cultural roots of the divide, the numbers behind the manpower crisis, and why this debate cuts to the heart of what it means to be a Jewish state.
