Haredi draft: 10,000 notices sent - just 177 enlisted (not a typo)

The IDF updated the Knesset on the number of Haredim who have enlisted in the army between July of last year and today (Thursday), saying that while 10,000 draft notices went out, only 177 enlisted in practice.

At a meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, the IDF provided an update on the number of Haredim being drafted and the number actually enlisting since July, when the Supreme Court ordered that all draft-eligible Haredim be sent draft notices.

According to the representative at the Knesset, 10,000 draft notices have been sent in two rounds, 3,000 in the first round and 7,000 in the second round.

Just 177 have enlisted in the IDF in that time. 265 were declared deserters. 2,231 were issued Order 12s, which will become arrest orders if the draft candidate does not enlist within a month. 1,066 arrest orders have also been issued.

Lieutenant Colonel Avigdor Dickstein, head of the IDF's Haredi branch, said that there were also close to 500 draft candidates being "processed" and that the IDF was planning to send out 14,000 draft notices in the next round. He said that "we have concluded that the criteria can analyze the candidates we effectively draft" though he added that this is not what was guiding the army.

MK Yuli Edelstein, Chairman of the committee, has repeatedly said that his committee, which must approve any draft law to be presented to the Knesset, would make every effort to ensure a draft law which will allow "drafting at high numbers, tracks which will allow" Haredim to serve in combat and combat support positions in the IDF, and sanctions against those who don't want to serve.

Edelstein has also said that he hopes the effort will succeed and that all the conditions are in place for success, however the main thing is that the IDF has a "real operational need for additional soldiers" and "it is our duty to provide a response to that need.