'Do not show up at recruitment offices': Haredi rabbi responds to Gallant's draft goal

In the wake of the IDF's stating its intention to send out draft notices to thousands of ultra-Orthodoxm by the end of 2024, a number of top rabbis from different ultra-Orthodox groups ruled on Thursday that IDF service was prohibited and that their followers should ignore all draft orders.

The rulings show that nearly all of Israel's ultra-Orthodox spiritual leadership have adopted an extreme position against any increase in the ultra-Orthodox draft, and raises questions about the government's ability to abide by the High Court of Justice ruling last month that stated that the categorical ultra-Orthodox exemption was illegal.

A ruling by Rabbi Dov Lando, head of the Slabodka yeshiva and a leading figure in the Lithuanian-Asheknazic ultra-Orthodox group, ran on Thursday on the front page of the Yated Ne'eman newspaper, which is affiliated with the Degel Hatorah political faction.

Lando argued in the ruling that throughout Israel's history, there was an understanding with the "army authorities" that yeshiva students would not be drafted, and ultra-Orthodox leadership cooperated with the authorities in order to regulate the exemption. However, according to Lando the current situation is that the High Court has "declared war against the world of Torah," and since the IDF was subject to the high court ruling, ultra-Orthodox men should no longer cooperate with the IDF and should not respect any draft orders, even if they are for preliminary checkups.

A number of top Sephardic ultra-Orthodox rabbis associated with the Shas Party published a similar ruling. They called on politicians to immediately cease legislation in the Knesset aimed at regulating the issue, and only support a law that would grant a total exemption for all yeshiva students.

The Sephardic rabbis also opposed proposals for new "kosher" ultra-Orthodox units that the IDF has said would enable them to maintain their lifestyle, arguing that "the more 'kosher' they are, the more dangerous they are," since they serve as a "stamp of approval and paving the way into the army's embrace." The Sephardic rabbis called on yeshiva students to prefer economic sanctions and even prison to going to "a place of sinful culture and a melting pot, God forbid." They also wrote that they would act to provide special legal assistance to students who avoid the draft.

IDF prepares to draft yeshiva students

Representatives of the IDF said in meetings in the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee this week that they were planning on drafting 3,000 haredim into the IDF in the coming year, in addition to the approximately 1,800 annual average. However, these are expected to come from ultra-Orthodox men who have de-facto left the yeshivot yet are still listed as yeshiva students.

In the meanwhile, the High Court ruling stated clearly that barring any other law, the current situation is that the IDF cannot categorically exempt haredim, and must act to begin draft procedures for all military age ultra-Orthodox men, which number over 60,000. The High Court also ruled that yeshivot could no longer receive state funding for students who avoided the draft. Following the ruling, the attorney general's office is also examining the legality of other state benefits to ultra-Orthodox men who continue to avoid the draft, including tax cuts and funding for daycare centers.

 Michael Starr and Reuters contributed to this report.