Israel formalizes Orthodox integration into military with new guidelines

Haredi recruitment has increased 60 percent over the past two years, though most still choose regular army units.

By Pesach Benson, TPS

Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir signed a landmark order Tuesday establishing formal guidelines for integrating Orthodox (Haredi) Jews into military service, marking the first time such arrangements have been codified in an official General Staff order.

Integrating Haredi Jews into military life is one of Israel’s most politically sensitive issues, as the army faces manpower shortages.

The comprehensive directive, which took nearly 18 months to develop, creates three distinct service tracks for Haredi soldiers, offering different levels of religious accommodation and gender separation.

The “David” track represents the strictest option, currently limited to the Hasmonean Brigade. All personnel, including commanders and service providers, must maintain an observant religious lifestyle.

The “Sword” track allows Haredi men to serve in units alongside non-religious soldiers, such as the Netzach Yehuda Battalion.

The “Shield” track permits service in mixed rear-line units with gender-separated teams.

“We have beds, commanders, equipment, weapons and ready-to-be-instructed squads. We just need more Haredim to arrive and each of them to know exactly what they are receiving in their service, and to choose a path that suits them and their lifestyle,” the IDF stated.

Haredi military service has long been contentious in Israel, where most Haredi men have traditionally been exempt from the mandatory draft to pursue religious studies.

The issue has intensified since Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack on southern communities.

Strained by two years of war and extended reserve duty, the army projects it will lack 17,000 soldiers starting in 2027, as troops who enlisted for shortened 30-month terms begin completing service.

The order addresses numerous culturally sensitive issues.

Soldiers in designated tracks can request enhanced kosher food standards, wear civilian clothes when leaving bases, and participate in “declaration” ceremonies rather than traditional military oath-swearing, which observant Jews often avoid.

Prospective recruits must undergo interviews to verify that they define themselves as Haredi and maintain that lifestyle.

Significantly, the order does not ban women from entering facilities where Haredi men serve. Military officials emphasized that female soldiers and officers can make professional visits “according to common sense” and command discretion.

“If there is a construction inspector who is a woman, she will enter, and if there is a senior officer who comes to talk to the Hasmoneans, then he will talk to the company while his secretary is waiting in the office,” the IDF explained.

The order establishes that an external rabbinical body under the Defense Ministry will oversee compliance and can report irregularities to senior military officials.

However, the military maintained that civilian rabbis will have no command authority—only uniformed officers will make decisions.

Defense Minister Israel Katz praised the development as “a historic and significant step in strengthening the partnership and shared responsibility for the security of the State of Israel.”

He emphasized the integration would occur “while fully preserving their way of life, their faith and values.”

Haredi recruitment has increased 60 percent over the past two years, though most still choose regular army units. Assignment to designated tracks remains voluntary.

The military hopes the formalized guidelines will build Haredi trust while addressing operational needs.

The military began making plans to draft yeshiva students after Israel’s High Court of Justice ruled in 2024 that exemptions for the Haredi community were illegal.

Military service is compulsory for all Israeli citizens. However, Israel’s first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, and the country’s leading rabbis agreed to a status quo that deferred military service for Haredi men studying in yeshivot, or religious institutions.

At the time, no more than several hundred men were studying in yeshivot.