Israel’s war on Gaza during the past two years, along with its assaults on the West Bank, Lebanon, Iran, Yemen, and Syria, has left its military overstretched.
While most Jewish men and women are expected to serve at least two years in the army, one group has always been exempt – ultra-Orthodox Jews, also known as the Haredim.
In June 2024, Israel’s Supreme Court ruled they could be conscripted, leading to mass opposition from the Haredim.
Last month, hundreds of thousands of Haredi men filled Jerusalem with one of the largest ultra-Orthodox demonstrations in years.
The opposition is bad for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who relies on ultra-Orthodox parties in his governing coalition.
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Here, Middle East Eye explains how Haredi enlistment has polarised Israeli society – and what it could mean for the Israeli government.
Who are the Haredim?
Haredim is a Hebrew umbrella term for the most strictly observant groups within Judaism. In Hebrew, the word Haredim means those who tremble before God – or God-fearing.
In Israel, they number around 1.3 million, making up around 13 percent of the population – a figure that is continuing to grow due to the group’s high birthrate. Other substantial Haredi communities live in the US (an estimated 700,000), the UK (75,000), and Canada (30,000).
In Israel, Haredim include Ashkenazi Jews originally from central and northern Europe, as well as communities of Sephardic and Mizrahi Haredi.
While all Haredim speak Hebrew like the majority of the Israeli population, others, chiefly from Hasidic sub-groups, speak Yiddish.
Many live in Haredi-only neighbourhoods such as Jerusalem’s Mea Shearim and follow a deeply conservative lifestyle. This includes strict dietary and clothing rules and daily Torah study for men in religious schools called yeshivas.
Aiming to follow traditional Jewish law (halakha), many avoid modern technology such as TV and the internet, and forbid gender mixing and homosexuality.
Torah study is prioritised: only 54 percent of ultra-Orthodox men are employed, compared to around 85 percent in the non-Haredim population. Instead, the Haredim receive hundreds of millions of dollars worth of aid from the Israeli government each year to subsidise their welfare and fund yeshivas.
Traditionally, this has been supported by the religious belief that advanced Torah study in yeshivas contributes to Israeli national security.
Many Haredim support Israel as a Jewish state, and have backed Israel’s genocide in Gaza, in which at least 69,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023.
In contrast others, such as the Neturei Karta, oppose secular Zionism for religious reasons, believing that the foundation of a Jewish state before the coming of the Messiah is forbidden.
What are Haredi views on conscription?
The Haredim are one of several groups in Israeli society that are exempt from the military draft, alongside Palestinian citizens of Israel and Bedouins.
Most Jewish citizens, unless for medical or other reasons, have been obliged to serve at least two years of mandatory military conscription since the state’s foundation in 1948.
This exemption, which covers Haredi men studying full-time in yeshivas, is commonly known as “torato umanato” (“Torah study is his job”), and was introduced by Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, in 1948.
Then, the Haredi population made up a smaller proportion of the population than it does today. Last year, more than 60,000 eligible Haredi men were exempted from conscription.
For decades, most Haredi rabbis have said that military service threatens the Haredi way of life.
Issues with the army include the mixing of genders, obstacles to Haredi dietary requirements and time spent away from Torah study, all of which many Haredim perceive as secularising.
Most Haredi rabbis also reject military units which specifically cater to the Haredi lifestyle, such as the Netzah Yehuda battalion, which has been accused of abusing human rights.
The Hesder programme, a government-led initiative combining yeshiva study with a shortened military service, has also had a limited uptake.
What’s happened since 7 October?
The Israeli military has faced troop shortages due to the war in Gaza and elsewhere.
In June 2024, Israel’s High Court’s ruled that the government was obliged to draft Haredi men into the army.
In November 2025, Ynet reported that Brigadier General Shai Tayeb told a parliamentary subcommittee: “We need 12,000 soldiers, about 6,000-7,000 of them combat troops.”
In January, the Israeli military announced that it would begin launching criminal proceedings against undrafted Haredim, although enforcement has been limited amid protests. Throughout this year, Haredi protesters have blocked roads across Israel, encouraged by Hasidic rabbis.
That court ruling, and the ultra-Orthodox opposition, caused problems for Netanyhau, whose governing coalition is dependent on the Haredi political parties, United Torah Judaism (UTJ) and Shas, for its parliamentary majority.
In June, Netanyahu’s Haredi coalition partners threatened to join a no-confidence vote launched by the opposition, before eventually giving last-minute support to the prime minister.
But relations broke down again and, on the eve of Israel’s war with Iran, the UTJ announced its withdrawal from the coalition. Shas ministers resigned their posts a day later, but said they would remain in coalition, ensuring Netanyahu’s government survived.
Members of Netanyahu’s Likud party responded by dismissing Yuli Edelstein, the defence panel chair who pushed the enlistment bill.
Netanyahu, relying on a razor-thin majority, bought some time when the parliament went into recess from July to mid-October.
Boaz Bismuth, regarded as more conciliatory towards UTJ and Shas, has now replaced Edelstein as defence panel chair. But Haredi protests have continued, spurred by the arrests of around 800 Haredi men accused of evading the draft – albeit a fraction of the total refusing service.
On 30 October, more than 200,000 Haredim took to the streets of Jerusalem after a new draft law was scheduled for a reading.
Have Haredim protested before?
Yes, although October’s protest was one of the biggest in recent years.
In June 1948, within weeks of the creation of Israel, Haredim protested at being asked to undertake military service, which ultimately resulted in the modern-day exemptions.
And in 1999, more than 250,000 Haredi protested against a range of religious issues, including not only conscription but also religious councils and working on the Sabbath.
At least 300,000 Haredim brought Jerusalem to a standstill in March 2014 to protest at conscription proposals brought forward by Netanyahu’s government.
Demonstrations took place not only in Israel but also across the Haredim diaspora, with 4,000 of London’s Stamford Hill ultra-Orthodox community rallying in support.
Haredim have also previously protested against mixed gender swimming pools, sex shops and construction work that threatens ancient Jewish sites.
What have people in Israel been saying?
Wider backing for the Haredim draft exemption has decreased significantly in recent years. Many regard fighting for Israel as a religious imperative. Support for the protection of Torah studies is also less strong among increasingly secular Israelis.
Opposition to the exemption has soared since the Hamas-led attacks on 7 October mobilised Israel’s largest military operation in decades.
According to a January 2025 survey, 85 percent of Israelis back the plan – up from 67 percent in January 2024.
Times of Israel columnist Alan P Gross wrote: “Every Israeli benefits from the protection of the state; every Israeli should help provide it… The Haredi exemption is not a matter of faith. It is a matter of fairness.”
And the conservative Jerusalem Post said in an editorial following the recent protests: “The time for appeasement has passed. The time for accountability – and for belonging – is long overdue.”
What could happen next?
A draft of a new conscription bill authored by Bismuth was leaked on 29 October. It included lower conscription targets and softer sanctions against Haredi draft refusers.
But far from solving the crisis, the bill has met widespread opposition, not least from the backbenches of Likud.
Likud MK Dan Illouz said: “This isn’t a Likud law – it’s a Shas law. The only law Likud should advance is simple and clear: Those who serve receive benefits from the state. Those who don’t serve, don’t.”
Netanyahu also faces pressure to clamp down on Haredi draft evasion from his other coalition partners in the Israeli far-right.
Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s finance minister and leader of the National Religious – Religious Zionism party, has also derided making “concessions” to the Haredim on conscription.
Shas and UTJ are yet to offer full support to the Bismuth bill, amid divisions among the different factions within the parties.
But if Netanyahu fails to secure the complete backing of Haredi parties in his coalition, then he will remain vulnerable. And that could trigger early elections ahead of the scheduled date of October 2026.
