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After Supreme Court orders drafting of yeshiva students, IDF forms first ultra-Orthodox brigade

IDF reportedly in the midst of forming its first all-religious combat brigade, months after the Supreme Court ordered the military to begin drafting ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students.

By World Israel News Staff

The Israeli military is in the midst of forming its first, all-religious combat brigade, months after the Supreme Court ordered the IDF to begin drafting ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students.

In June, Israel’s Supreme Court handed down a precedent-setting decision, overturning the government’s decision to continue to issue annual draft deferments to full-time yeshiva students and to fund students relying on the deferments despite the court’s striking down of the draft law in 2017.

Following the ruling, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara instructed the IDF to immediately implement the ruling by drafting 3,000 ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students.

Now the IDF is preparing for the large-scale induction of ultra-Orthodox men with the formation of an entire combat brigade for religious soldiers.

According to a report by Israel Hayom on Monday, the IDF is remodelling an army base in the Jordan Valley to the tune of $46 million to provide a center of operations for the new brigade.

The renovated base will include four synagogues and other accoutrements to serve the religious needs of the incoming ultra-Orthodox soldiers.

The brigade’s first soldiers will begin arriving at the base in December, according to the report, with the brigade slated to become combat operational in November 2025.

Currently, the only all-ultra-Orthodox combat unit in the IDF is Netzah Yehuda, better known as “Nahal Haredi,” a battalion in the Kfir Brigade.

In addition to the new army brigade, Israel is working to establish an ultra-Orthodox company within the Border Police, along with an aircraft maintenance division in the Israel Air Force.

The planning of the new brigade has been conducted in conjunction with prominent rabbinic leaders in the ultra-Orthodox community, including Rabbi Moshe Hillel Hirsch.