It’s never over. Lurking behind each crisis is yet another awaiting its opportunity to take center stage. This is inevitable, but especially so in a world gone crazy. Yet we cope.
The crisis we moved past last night was with regard to drafting of Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) young men and the possibility that the government might fall.
This – an internal Israeli matter – is not a situation I have chosen to deal with in my postings precisely because it is a domestic issue. But now an overview is in order. I make the assumption that the majority of my readers are at least roughly familiar with this matter, which has been highly contentious.
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From the time of the establishment of the modern State of Israel, there has been a tradition of exempting Haredi – ultra-Orthodox – young men studying in yeshivot from serving in the army. (In 1948, Ben Gurion agreed to an exemption of 400 yeshiva students. Today the issue is with regard to tens of thousands of Haredim in yeshivot.)
A good percentage of Haredi men devote their lives to religious study and do not work – although the numbers who work is, of necessity, growing. In addition, some young men, who may be officially identified with a yeshiva, are simply not fit for the rigors of intense religious text study and do not actually devote themselves to such study. None-the-less, the over-riding argument of the Haredi community has been that the study they as a community do is just as important to the existence of Israel as is service in the army and thus no more need be required of them.
There has not been ready compliance: We have not seen that those who are not actually sitting in yeshivot and studying all day agree that it is their obligation to serve. There have been government attempts to identify a limited number of the best students and give just them exemptions from serving, just as there have been other formulas brought forward. But when draft notices are sent out to the percentage of Haredim that has been legally stipulated, it is only a small portion of those that actually shows up to serve – although the percentage is growing. There are discussions regarding the penalties to be levied against those who fail to serve. This is a key part of the issue.
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This situation has persisted because every government formed in Israel has been a coalition government. There has been no instance in which one party, standing alone, has 60 plus mandates out of the 120 seats in the Knesset, and can proceed to govern.
Always, agreements with other parties are necessary, and often the party attempting to form a coalition looks to the Haredi parties to help provide the necessary numbers. There are two Haredi parties. UTJ (United Torah Judaism), chaired by Yitzhak Goldknopf, is Ashkenazi, and consists of the Hasidic Agudat Yisrael faction, headed by Moshe Gafni, and the smaller Degel HaTorah faction. Shas is the Sephardi party, headed by Aryeh Deri (pictured).
Each Haredi party is advised by its own council of rabbis, and their positions are not always in agreement. (You didn’t expect this to be simple, I hope.)
As the size of the Haredi community – which has a very high birthrate – has grown, so have the serious implications of exempting their men from military service.
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While the official reason for not serving in the army presented by Haredi groups is with regard to the need for study, there is another underlying issue: The Haredi community is very insular, and parents fear that if their sons are exposed to other ways of life, other ideas, shared by their fellow soldiers, they might be lured away and not return. The 97th Netzah Yehuda Battalion, commonly referred to as Nahal Haredi, was founded in order to address this concern and provide Haredi soldiers with an opportunity to continue their religious way of life while serving but has met with only moderate success. (More on this below.)
There are some young Haredim who do answer the call and serve. Some of their parents express pride in them, others break with their sons. Some of these young men are actually categorized by the army as lone soldiers – soldiers without parents in the country – because for all practical purposes they do not have parents standing behind them. This, in my opinion, is nothing less than a heartbreak.
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The situation that has severely exacerbated the situation now is our on-going war with Hamas, the longest war in which Israel has ever been engaged. We have lost the better part of 900 soldiers, and others have been wounded. Those in the reserves are called up again and again and are drained. They leave behind families that must function without them.
The fact of the matter is that we need the numbers that young Haredi men might provide.
Deep and justified resentment is often expressed by families of soldiers who proudly serve at great sacrifice: My son/husband has known so much hardship in the field and their sons sit in the yeshiva!!
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Let me take a moment to clarify one issue on which I have occasionally encountered confusion: When I write about the ultra-Orthodox I am not referring to the Dati Leumi (Religious Zionist) community. Religious Zionist young men, who are deeply devoted to the State, serve at a disproportionately high level in combat units and are in increasing numbers becoming officers.
https://www.jns.org/religious-zionist-towns-lead-in-idf-reserve-duty/
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There is a concept in halacha (Jewish law) that it is important to mention here: melchemet mitzvah. There are two types of wars for the Jewish people. One is discretionary – melchemet reshut. The other is an halachic necessity – the melchemet mitvah, obligated for reasons of self-defense. There is no question but that our war against Hamas falls into this category.
Here, briefly, Rabbi Yitzchak Breitowitz explains:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/dKKqlFPQufk
The Haredim perceive the matter differently.
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The crisis arose because yesterday (Wednesday) was the deadline for introducing a preliminary reading of legislation that addresses the failure of the Haredim to serve in meaningful numbers. Enter Yuli Edelstein (Likud, pictured), chair of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, who said that the legislation had to pass through his committee and vowed that “only a real, effective bill…leading to an expansion of the IDF’s conscription base” would come out of his committee. He adamantly insisted that he would not compromise on this.
The Haredi parties in response said that if a bill that was unacceptable to them were to be advanced by Edelstein they would pull out of the coalition and the government would fall.
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My position, and the position of many, was that it would have been very wrong to take down the government at this time. This was a deeply unsettling prospect. We have enough to contend with without dealing with a contentious election campaign.
But for a time it appeared that this might happen. The media made the most of this possibility, while Bibi was working furiously behind the scenes to forge a compromise.
It was only at 3 a.m. this morning (Thursday) that a compromise was reached and the threat of the Haredi parties pulling out of the coalition was no longer of concern.
Tweeted Edelstein this morning: “I am pleased to announce that after lengthy discussions, we have reached agreements on the principles that will form the basis of the Draft Law proposal.”
“As I have said all along, only a genuine bill will come out of the committee I chair. This is historic news, and we are on the way to a real correction in Israeli society and to strengthening the security of the State of Israel.”
Details of the agreement have yet to be ironed out, but it is stipulated to last only for six years. The status of all yeshiva students will be newly determined. Enlistment quotas will be set and sanctions – e.g., regarding drivers’ licenses and subsidies for academic study – will be applied against those who are drafted and do not show, although as part of the compromise Edelstein modified the stringency of those sanctions.
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Before moving on to the next crisis, I share a bit of additional information.
Since the beginning of the war, 3,000 Haredim have enlisted, including, I have read, the son of Aryeh Deri.
As Nahal Haredi did not sufficiently address the concerns of many Haredim, another group has been established, the Hasmonean Brigade, the first all-Haredi combat unit. It was opened in January 2025.
“The brigade requires recruits to follow a strict halachic lifestyle—that is, one in keeping with Jewish law. Observant Jews serve as commanders.
“Brigade enlistees were asked to sign a document accepting its rules. One clause states that recruits will at all times maintain a religious way of life, be careful to use ‘clean’ speech, keep beards and sidelocks throughout their service if they entered the army with them and wear Sabbath clothes during Sabbath prayers and meals ‘as is customary in ultra-Orthodox society’…
“All the courses and training for soldiers in the brigade will be conducted internally to avoid mixing with non-Orthodox units, a nod to a concern among many ultra-Orthodox.”
Hopefully this approach will be successful in attracting Haredi enlistment. As a starter, some 150 men were drafted for this unit – the long-term goal is 4,000.
This past Sunday the Brigade made history by becoming the first ultra-Orthodox Unit to enter Gaza.
https://www.jns.org/first-haredi-idf-unit-enters-gaza-strip-makes-history/
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And to our next crisis, which has been brewing and is of major dimensions: This is with regard to attacking Iran to remove from it all capability of developing nuclear weaponry.
The attempt by Trump to negotiate a deal with Iran has been a source of enormous frustration here, as it has been apparent that Iran – which would be untrustworthy in any event – was stringing him along. In the duration the Iranians have been able to make further progress in their enrichment program and take action to further protect their equipment.
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The statements from Trump have left most of us deeply confused. It is important to keep in mind at all times that there are calculated games being played. Statements should not be accepted as necessarily a reflection of what is truly going on. Nor should media reports be accepted as accurate.
Various leaks indicated that Trump was discouraging Netanyahu from attacking Iran because he had hopes of forging a deal. He continued to insist that Iran would not have nuclear capability.
On Monday, Netanyahu had a 40-minute phone call with Trump and subsequently that same evening called a meeting of top security personnel. There was widespread but unverified speculation that Netanyahu was solidifying the Israeli need to act.
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On Tuesday, the top US military commander for the Middle East, Gen. Mchael Kurilla, testified before the House Armed Services Committee that he had presented US President Donald Trump with military plans to strike Iran and is prepared to do if so ordered.
“I have provided the secretary of defense and the president a wide range of options,” he said. When asked if CENTCOM was prepared to respond with overwhelming force if Iran does not permanently give up its nuclear ambitions, Gen. Kurilla replied, “yes.”
This was reassuring but might be seen as saber rattling to push Iran to negotiate. Just yesterday, the president indicated that negotiations with Iran were tougher than he had thought they would be. He had expected to be able to get Iran to shut down its nuclear program, but now he is not sure: “ I did think so, and I’m getting more and more — less confident about it.”
Another negotiating session is scheduled for Saturday. Bibi is in consultation with his security officials and is perhaps waiting for the outcome of that session.
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As of today, there are both reports and concrete actions that suggest a military attack on Iran may be imminent. Secretary of State Rubio has ordered all non-essential staff to leave the embassies in Iraq, Bahrain, and Kuwait.
There is nothing, of course emanating from Israel directly. The big question is whether Israel would be acting alone or with support or cooperation from the US.
Such support would be enormously important – both because the US has weaponry, e.g., huge bunker busters, that would make the attack more effective and would act to defend Israel as Iran retaliates. Reportedly, Chief of Staff Ayal Zamir insists this support is essential. That said, it is also understood here that an attack can wait just so long.
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Meanwhile, Trump’s statements are enough to make one’s head spin – but there is the possibility that this is deliberate and that his position is not nearly as ridiculous as it appears.
In response to reports that Israel may attack, he said that he would prefer we did not, because, he explained, the US and Iran were “fairly close to a pretty good agreement.” This sounds just splendid. Is “pretty good” good enough? Then, elaborating further: “I don’t want them going in, because I think it would blow it. Might help it actually, but it also could blow it.”
Ambassador Mike Huckabee said that Israel would be unlikely to attack without a go-ahead from the White House. And as of this evening, our Home Front Command, in spite of reports in the media, indicated that there were no changes in emergency guidelines.
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And so we wait…
I close with two additional thoughts:
Trump said that Iran cannot have nuclear weapons, but “Other than that, I want them to be successful. We’ll trade with them, we’ll do whatever is necessary.”
This is the Western transactional businessman talking: You give me what I want and I’ll give you great stuff in return. He is totally ignorant of the power of ideology in a Jihadist state such as Iran. That ignorance puts him at a great disadvantage in negotiations.
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Lastly, hear what Ruthie Blum and Mark Regev have to say about “The latest (fake) Trump-Netanyahu rift.” An interesting perspective.
https://www.jns.org/the-latest-fake-trump-netanyahu-rift/
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I ask for prayers for Israel’s wellbeing. And in particular, prayers for the wisdom and courage of our leaders.
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©Arlene Kushner. This material is produced by independent journalist Arlene Kushner. Permission is granted for it to be reproduced only with proper attribution.
