{"id":13357,"date":"2025-03-16T19:11:45","date_gmt":"2025-03-16T19:11:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/israels-newest-army-recruits-the-ultra-orthodox\/"},"modified":"2025-03-16T19:11:45","modified_gmt":"2025-03-16T19:11:45","slug":"israels-newest-army-recruits-the-ultra-orthodox","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/israels-newest-army-recruits-the-ultra-orthodox\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel\u2019s Newest Army Recruits: the Ultra-Orthodox"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- ItShrt World News -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"1882483372\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">They weren\u2019t supposed to fight.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">At Israel\u2019s founding in 1948, the new nation\u2019s leaders agreed that ultra-Orthodox men \u2014 known as the Haredim, or God-fearing, in Hebrew \u2014 would be spared from mandatory military service. In exchange, Haredi leaders lent their support for the largely secular state.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The arrangement held for Israel\u2019s first 75 years, until the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The resulting war in Gaza pulled <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/11\/06\/world\/middleeast\/israeli-reservists.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&amp;referringSource=articleShare\" title=\"\">hundreds of thousands of Israelis<\/a> into battle \u2014 but hardly any ultra-Orthodox. The dynamic exacerbated tensions that had been simmering for years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Haredim, who average more than six children per family, now make up 14 percent of the nation, up from 5 percent in 1948. In 40 years, they are <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/backend.shoresh.institute\/downloads\/policy-brief-eng-doingthemath.pdf\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">on track<\/a> to account for half of all Israeli children.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">As the numbers of Haredim have grown, many Israelis have become frustrated that their own sons and daughters are sent to fight while the Haredim receive government subsidies to study the Torah.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Last summer, the tensions broke open. Under pressure, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that ultra-Orthodox men were no longer exempt from service. The military has since sent draft orders to 10,000 Haredi men. Just 338 have shown up for duty.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Israel is now confronting one of its messiest and most fundamental dilemmas: Its fastest growing sect won\u2019t serve in the military.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">After the Supreme Court decision, The New York Times began following three Haredi teenagers who represent the divergent paths for the Haredim and Israel.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Chaim Krausz, 19, studies the Torah for 14 hours a day, just like his father before him. He has protested the Supreme Court decision and believes armed service is not only a sin, but also a threat to ultra-Orthodox traditions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Itamar Greenberg, 18, a former ultra-Orthodox seminary student, has also protested against the Israeli state, but his reasons are not religious. \u201cThey\u2019ve been committing a massacre in Gaza,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Yechiel Wais, 19, also once studied in a seminary, but had dreams of a life outside his strict ultra-Orthodox community and left for the work force. Then his draft orders arrived.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIt\u2019s not an entry ticket to Israeli society,\u201d Mr. Wais said of a position in the Israeli military. \u201cBut it\u2019s the minimum requirement.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-13o6u42 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-4164b21b\">The soldier<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Growing up, Mr. Wais wore a black-and-white suit. Like most ultra-Orthodox males, it was practically his only outfit.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But one year for Purim, a Jewish holiday when many children wear costumes, he dressed up as an Israeli soldier. He lived near an Israeli Air Force base and loved watching the F-16 fighter jets from behind a fence.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-4\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The idea of him, a Haredi boy, growing up to be a soldier felt impossible. \u201cI didn\u2019t even fantasize about it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ultra-Orthodox men are supposed to devote themselves to a life of study and prayer. For many, that includes isolation from the outside, secular world: no internet, no television and no radio.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-5\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">At Mr. Wais\u2019s home, even the CD player was \u201ckosher\u201d \u2014 its radio antenna removed. One day, when Mr. Wais was listening to music, he suddenly heard a voice through static. His headphones had unwittingly picked up a radio signal. After that, he spent hours surreptitiously listening to the radio, discovering a very different world.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">It was the beginning of his exit from a strict ultra-Orthodox life. When he turned 17 in 2022, he told his parents he wanted to leave the yeshiva to work. They were stunned, but acquiesced. They took him to a mall to shop for clothes for his new life.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-6\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He found a job outside Tel Aviv. Then, when he heard about the Supreme Court decision, he found a new path, fighting for his country.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-13o6u42 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-385db162\">The student<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-7\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Krausz has no interest in secular Israeli society.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He spends most of his time under the tutelage of rabbis who warn against a long list of sins, including any contact with women outside his family before marriage. He hardly leaves his densely packed ultra-Orthodox neighborhood, where signs \u2014 including above his family home \u2014 warn passers-by to dress modestly so as not to offend residents.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">It is how he wants to live.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Thousands of Haredi men in Israel receive government subsidies to study the Torah, while their wives often work. In Israel, 53 percent of Haredi men are employed, versus 80 percent of Haredi women. For Israelis who are not ultra-Orthodox, employment rates exceed 80 percent.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-8\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Haredi population is also soaring \u2014 from 40,000 in 1948 to 1.3 million today.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Krausz is one of 18 children. In his four-room house, people sleep around the dining room table. He wants the same big family. \u201cThe more the better,\u201d he said. His parents are searching for a wife for him.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-9\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The government had long funded at least a fifth of yeshivas\u2019 budgets; donors cover the rest. Then earlier this year, an Israeli court halted public funding to yeshivas that teach military-age men, part of the push to get more Haredim into the military.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The decision doesn\u2019t bother Mr. Krausz. One of the reasons he resists military service is that he opposes the concept of the Israeli state.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Krausz\u2019s sect, Yahadut Haharedi, says there should not be a Jewish state until the messiah arrives.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-13o6u42 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-5a21b2e8\">The activist<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-10\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In the weeks before his new life in the military, Mr. Wais headed out for a night out with friends. Sliding into the car, Mr. Wais wrinkled his nose and said, \u201cThe lefty sitting next to me is sweaty.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">That \u201clefty\u201d he referred to was his friend, Mr. Greenberg, who was indeed far to the left ideologically \u2014 and sweaty. He had come directly from an antiwar demonstration and had stickers on his shirt to show for it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The two had met on social media months earlier and formed a friendship as young Haredi men trying to fit into broader society.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">At age 12, Mr. Greenberg began questioning his faith with a censored version of the internet as a guide, dreaming of life outside his community. \u201cThe only way to become a part of Israeli society is to get drafted,\u201d he recalled thinking. \u201cThat was one of the most accurate realizations I had in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">By 16, his views had evolved further \u2014 and to the left. He became a vegan, stopped believing in God and developed a fierce opposition to the Israeli occupation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-11\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He also opposes the drafting of the ultra-Orthodox, but for different reasons than most. \u201cIt\u2019s important to integrate the ultra-Orthodox people into Israeli society,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd to work for equality. But I don\u2019t care about equality in killing and oppression.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In the car to Jerusalem, Mr. Wais and Mr. Greenberg jokingly exchanged digs. They drank colorful cocktails at a friend\u2019s apartment and then headed to a Haredi haunt that served traditional Jewish foods like chopped liver and cholent, a slow-cooked stew. Eventually the conversation turned to politics.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-12\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI\u2019m not willing to take part in a system that commits such crimes,\u201d Mr. Greenberg said to Mr. Wais in the car.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWhich crimes?\u201d Mr. Wais responded.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cDo you want a list?\u201d Mr. Greenberg said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">It would be their last night out together. Both had been drafted. While Mr. Wais was preparing for basic training, Mr. Greenberg was preparing to report to a military prison as a conscientious objector. His ultra-Orthodox family reluctantly accepted his new views, including his father, a rare Haredi man who serves in the Army reserves.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-13\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He was not accepted by his bunk mates. Once in prison, Mr. Greenberg realized that his fellow inmates were not activists like him, but soldiers accused of crimes. They taunted and threatened him, he said, and guards sometimes put him in solitary confinement for his own protection. \u201cThey hate the army,\u201d he said of the other prisoners, \u201cbut they hate me more.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Last month, after 197 days incarcerated across five separate prison stints, Mr. Greenberg walked out of the prison for what he hoped was the final time. \u201cThe army\u2019s decided to release me,\u201d <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/itamar_green\/status\/1896952085968785586\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">he said<\/a>, dressed in a green sweatshirt with smiley faces.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cBut the broader goal was to build a better future, for everyone from Jordan to the sea,\u201d he added. \u201cI\u2019m not done with that yet.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-13o6u42 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-18ac910c\">An ultra-Orthodox platoon<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-14\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Over the past several decades, hundreds of Haredi men had defied their community and volunteered for military service, but most had been kept away from combat. Mr. Wais wanted to be different: He wanted to fight.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-15\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI don\u2019t like war,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I like action in the street \u2014 the soldiers and rockets.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Yet after a medical exam revealed he needed ear surgery, military officials told him he was not cut out for combat. Instead, he would maintain aircraft.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In August, he arrived at an air force base in Israel\u2019s north and was assigned to a unit with two dozen other Haredi soldiers. They shed their traditional black-and-white garb for mechanics\u2019 jumpsuits, but kept their kipas, or traditional skullcaps. Many also still wore payot, or side curls, common among the ultra-Orthodox. Mr. Wais had shaved his years earlier.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-16\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Their barracks and lunch tables were separated from other soldiers to avoid mixing with women, which could violate Haredi principles. Their food was cooked to even stricter kosher standards. They prayed and studied religious texts for two to three hours a day \u2014 the most Mr. Wais said he had studied since leaving the seminary.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThere isn\u2019t a soldier here who could complain how we\u2019re being treated with regard to religious issues,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-17\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On a recent day, Mr. Wais and two fellow Haredi soldiers went through final training on maintenance for an F-16 fighter jet. They were the same jets he used to watch as a child. <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Afterward, the soldiers gathered for a sermon from a Haredi rabbi. They were set to graduate from training the next day.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe are in the middle of the biggest war of all,\u201d the rabbi, David Viseman, told the teenagers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cYou have to prepare your souls to cling to goodness in the world,\u201d he added. \u201cTo erase evil.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Now he is working as an aircraft technician in a special ultra-Orthodox unit of the Israeli Air Force\u2019s 105th Scorpion Squadron.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe are the new pioneers,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are marching at the head of a movement.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-13o6u42 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-23aec8cc\">An ultra-Orthodox protest<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-18\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">To Mr. Krausz, the evil are the Haredim in the military.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIt\u2019s the way I look at any Jew who breaks the Shabbat,\u201d he said, referring to the Jewish day of rest. \u201cIt\u2019s forbidden to love them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He was more forgiving of secular soldiers. \u201cOf course they don\u2019t know better,\u201d he said, puffing on a strawberry-kiwi-flavored vape at his dining room table, shelves of religious texts behind him.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">His biggest fear is that the ultra-Orthodox faith won\u2019t survive if Haredi men must fight. <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">After the Supreme Court decision, Mr. Krausz joined thousands of other Haredi men in the streets. They crowded around an enlistment office and harassed the Haredi draftees going in.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-19\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Israeli Army said in a statement that Haredi men who ignore draft orders \u201cmay face criminal sanctions.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-20\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Yet unlike Mr. Greenberg, who turned himself in to the authorities, Mr. Krausz and his peers have largely avoided consequences.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Any effort to force them to serve, Mr. Krausz warned, would not be taken lightly.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe are willing to die to not go to the army,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-798hid etfikam0\">Myra Noveck<!-- --> contributed reporting from Jerusalem and Haifa, Israel.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- ItShrt World News -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"1882483372\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/16\/world\/middleeast\/israel-military-haredim-draft.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>They weren\u2019t supposed to fight. At Israel\u2019s founding in 1948, the new nation\u2019s leaders agreed that ultra-Orthodox men \u2014 known<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13358,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[576,1911,99,3531,4310,469],"class_list":["post-13357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world","tag-defense-and-military-forces","tag-draft-and-recruitment-military","tag-israel","tag-jews-and-judaism","tag-orthodox-judaism","tag-politics-and-government"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Israel\u2019s Newest Army Recruits: the Ultra-Orthodox - World News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/israels-newest-army-recruits-the-ultra-orthodox\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Israel\u2019s Newest Army Recruits: the Ultra-Orthodox - World News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"They weren\u2019t supposed to fight. 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