IDF Plans to Increase Haredi Recruitment by 20% in 2025

Senior IDF Official reveals: This is the IDF's target for recruiting Haredim in the coming year

Senior IDF Manpower Directorate official Shai Taib attended a discussion on the recruitment crisis in the Knesset and clarified that the IDF's 2025 military needs are about 12,000 soldiers, of which about 7,000 are combat soldiers. Taib stated: "The sanctions on those who did not report for recruitment exist, but they are not strong enough."

Haredi Netzah Yehudah soldiers. (Photo: Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Amid the recruitment crisis and against the backdrop of reports on the recruitment law that the coalition is trying to promote, Brigadier General Shai Taib, who serves as the head of the Planning and Human Resources Division in the IDF, arrived today (Tuesday) at the State Audit Committee meeting chaired by MK Mickey Levy on the topic of Haredi service in the IDF.

Brigadier General Shai Taib clarified that the target for the upcoming recruitment year, which begins on July 1, 2024, and ends on June 30, 2025, is to recruit 4,800 Haredim: "The overall need defined at the beginning of the process was about 10,000 soldiers, while the current data indicate a need for about 12,000 soldiers, of which 7,000 are combat soldiers. The recruitment process also involves addressing gaps in defining new institutions for Haredim, which requires additional adjustments in recruitment. In the 2025 recruitment year, we expect a 20% increase in the number of recruits, to about 5,700 Haredim, and in the following recruitment year, we will be able to absorb without limitation."

"The sanctions on the draft dodgers are not strong enough."

Taib updated that the IDF initially issued 3,000 first summonses and has now added another 7,000 for those who were in the status of yeshiva students but were canceled. According to him, those chosen to receive these summonses are 5,500 who were targeted, and the rest were issued based on age criteria. "The goal was primarily to target people who could be recruited more quickly. These are people who have encountered work, academia, etc. Currently, there are 10,000 first summonses out for people who were in some status of yeshiva students, but by the end of the year, there will be more than 10,000 summonses for the age group, estimated at 14,000, who will also be under summonses."

He further updated that "regarding the enlistment, it is a dynamic number – at first we had 40 out of 3000, and today we are already at 400 and above. Some show up but do not enlist. So far, about 70 plus have enlisted from these orders." Additionally, Taib said that the sanctions on those who do not show up for enlistment exist, but they are not strong enough. According to him, "in practice, those who break the law may encounter sanctions only if they leave the country or are arrested by the police. To make the sanctions more effective, they need to be linked to the individual's daily conduct."


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