Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Thousands of Haredi men volunteer to serve in Israeli army amid war in Gaza

The group generally avoids military service, but has signed up for duty in the wake of historic attack

October was expected to be a contentious month that would deepen divisions within Israeli society. The coalition government was expected to introduce at the start of the winter session legislation that would arrange military draft exemptions for Haredi men. But after the surprise Hamas attack on Israel, the opposite has ensued. An unprecedented number of Haredim have offered to serve.

An Israeli army spokesman, Daniel Hagari, said on Saturday that the IDF has approved 120 of more than 2,000 applicants to begin training on Monday ahead of an expected ground invasion of Gaza. Others will be drafted as volunteers. 

Israel called up roughly 360,000 reservists following the Oct. 7 attack on the south border and the ensuing war with Hamas. 

Yeshiva students and Haredi women under the age of 26 are generally exempt from military service under a decades-long status quo arrangement between the Israeli government and the Haredi parties, who have increasingly exercised control in the governing coalitions. The Supreme Court nullified the legal exemption in 2017 and mandated the government to create a new conscription law. Efforts to reform or solidify the exemptions have been delayed in recent years given political turmoil.

The IDF recently revealed that only a fraction of the 12,000 potential applicants – 1,200 Haredim – were enlisted annually in the years 2019-2021. 

But the Hamas attack changed the dynamic. Haredi medical services and emergency responders groups – like United Hatzalah and ZAKA – led rescue and recovery efforts. Others mobilized to deliver food and essential equipment to reservists and displaced families. 

A survey published in The Jerusalem Post showed that 68% of Haredim support military enlistment and 60% support volunteering during times of war.  

Avigdor Lieberman, a former finance and defense minister and a harsh critic of the Haredi culture, welcomed the move. “To see so many Haredim young men, of all ages, requesting to enlist in the IDF and to be an integral part of those who bear the burden, especially in these difficult days,” Lieberman wrote, “undoubtedly warms the heart and testifies to the strength of Israeli society.”

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.