The Haredi Identity and Military Obligation

With the return to war in Gaza, a wave of fresh recruits would relieve the intense pressure on Israel’s fatigued fighting force and struggling economy. But those potential new recruits—Ultra-Orthodox young men—are refusing or ignoring their conscription orders, often at the behest of their rabbis and leaders.

This week, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi untangle the enigma of Haredi draft refusal. Why has this community—whose livelihoods rely so heavily on Israel’s taxpayer funds—acculturated such disdain against national service amidst a war of survival, and what can the country do about it?

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