Shas spiritual leaders encourage haredim to refuse draft orders

A message disseminated on Wednesday by the Shas spokesperson asked the public to refuse any draft order or to appear at the recruiting office amid the IDF’s aim to send draft orders for haredim on Sunday. 

The message stated Shas rabbis “have firmly instructed that as of now, with no new law yet established to regulate the status of yeshiva students, no draft orders or summons should be responded to.

“Therefore, there should be no appearance at the recruitment offices whatsoever.”

'Stand firm'

The spokesperson also stated, “There are elements, led by the High Court of Justice and the legal bureaucracy, acting to harm the Torah world and restrict the steps of Torah scholars. Therefore, it is incumbent upon us now to stand firm as a solid wall and to make it clear that there is no power in the world that can, God forbid, sever Torah scholars from their studies."

A similar message was reiterated in the Shas newspaper Haderech, calling on its public "not to answer to draft orders or appear at the recruitment offices."

A source from Shas shared his opinion on the matter, saying, "This is a reactionary response to the issuing of draft orders, even though in closed discussions they were willing to make significant compromises regarding the conscription law currently being debated."

"The rabbis seem to be sending a message: 'What's the rush to issue orders when discussions on the law are progressing? You still decided to send orders? No problem! We will also escalate and instruct the public not to show up'," he concluded.

On Sunday, the IDF plans to send draft orders to haredim. However, the number of orders set to be sent is yet uncertain. 

IDF officials said  that their goal was to draft 3,000 haredim in the coming year, in addition to the approximately 1,800 haredim that already serve.  IDF representatives in earlier meetings said that they would first target haredim who either were listed as workers, or had other indications that they were not full-time yeshiva students. However, members of Knesset, mainly from the opposition, argued that the IDF did not have the authority to make such distinctions, which they said were discriminatory.

Eliav Breuer contributed to this report.