Is the IDF Chief REALLY Targeting Yeshiva students?!

HAREDI Media FUMING about IDF Draft: "Herzi Halevi is trying to take the Torah world captive"

As hundreds of IDF draft notices go out, religious leaders warn of a historic crisis in the making.

(Photo: X account of Shlomo Kook)

A deepening rift between Israel's military and ultra-Orthodox community was highlighted Thursday as religious newspapers accused IDF Chief of Staff of attempting to "take the Torah world captive" amid ongoing tensions over military service exemptions.

The controversy erupted after Bakehila, an ultra-Orthodox newspaper, published a scathing front-page article claiming that the IDF chief, supported by MK Yuli Edelstein, is escalating pressure on religious Yeshiva students to enlist. The paper framed this as part of a broader conflict stemming from investigations into recent Simchat Torah events.

In a parallel development, Mishpacha newspaper denounced what it called a "one-sided partnership," pointing to hundreds of arrest warrants reportedly issued to Yeshiva students who have not reported for military service. The paper argued that despite ultra-Orthodox parties' support for recent budget measures and "explicit promises" from coalition partners, the government has yet to submit draft legislation that would formalize religious students' exempt status.

The newspapers have taken the unusual step of publishing "worried parents' guides" - not for families of active soldiers, but for parents of yeshiva students who have received draft notices.

However, some tension appeared to ease after Defense Minister Israel Katz announced he would present new draft law principles to the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee next week. Religious Affairs Minister Goldknopf cautiously welcomed this as "a first step in the right direction," while emphasizing that any proposal would need approval from the Council of Torah Sages.

Haredi men protest (Photo: Roy Alimah / Flash90)
Protesting the IDF draft law, January 9th, 2025 (Photo: Roy Alimah / Flash90)

As Israel faces its most challenging security crisis in decades, the clash between military necessity and Torah study has reached a breaking point. The sight of yeshiva parents needing "survival guides" for draft notices - while other parents read guides for fallen soldiers - captures a community at a crossroads. Two worlds that once carefully coexisted now find themselves in an unavoidable collision, with both sides knowing there may be no going back to the delicate balance of before.

Israel Hayom contributed to this article.


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