Ultra-orthodox party rabbi reverses stance, supports IDF service if religious needs met

Rabbi Maya: “If there is an arrangement whereby someone who enlists would not desecrate Shabbat and would preserve his holiness and purity — why shouldn’t he enlist.”

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Rabbi Moshe Maya, a senior spiritual leader of the Shas party and member of its Council of Torah Sages, has shifted his position on the controversial issue of ultra-Orthodox enlistment in the Israel Defense Forces.

In an interview with Radio Kol Hai on Monday, he stated that ultra-Orthodox men not engaged in full-time Torah study could serve in the IDF, provided their religious needs were fully safeguarded.

“If there is an arrangement whereby someone who enlists would not desecrate Shabbat and would preserve his holiness and purity — why shouldn’t he enlist?” Maya said.

He stressed that such protections must be anchored in binding IDF General Staff orders, otherwise “they are worthless.”

The remarks represent a marked departure from his previous stance. As recently as last summer, after the High Court of Justice ruled to end blanket service exemptions for yeshiva students, Maya had argued that “it is forbidden for those who don’t study to go to the army” because army service would inevitably lead to Shabbat desecration.

At the time, he insisted the ultra-Orthodox role in Israel’s defense was prayer and Torah learning, declaring, “If not for the Torah students, there would be many more fatalities.”

Maya’s reversal comes as the IDF, strained by the war in Gaza and other fronts, has said it urgently needs an additional 12,000 recruits.

Currently, about 80,000 ultra-Orthodox men of draft age have not enlisted, fueling resentment among many Israelis. The army already operates frameworks such as the Netzach Yehuda Battalion and the Hasmonean Brigade to accommodate Haredi soldiers.

Only weeks ago, Maya signed a letter with other senior Shas rabbis opposing any compromise that would draft non-students, and he had previously compared enlistment to forced desecration of Shabbat.

His new position now brings him closer to remarks made by Shas ministers Moshe Arbel and Ya’akov Margi, who have argued that there is no justification for exempting men not studying in yeshiva.

The shift highlights divisions within Shas and the broader ultra-Orthodox world. Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef has maintained a hard line, insisting enlistment is forbidden “even for one who is idle” and warning of mass defiance if the government enforces conscription.