The FDI reservist strain intensifies the ultra-Orthodox debate as the Gaza war is developing

While Israel mobilizes 60,000 additional reservists for its Gaza City offensive, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces a confrontation on compulsory military service for the Ultra-Orthodox community, a debate refined by the pressure on reservists from their family for months at once.

During the War of Independence of Israel in 1948, Prime Minister David Benrion concluded an agreement with the Ultra-Orthodox community to exempt full-time biblical students from the army. The arrangement, known as “Torato Manuto” – literally “its Torah is its occupation” – originally applied to only a few hundred students.

Today, this community represents around 15% of the population of Israel of 10 million people, a share which should reach around a third by 2050 due to high birth rate.

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The general chief of staff, the LTG Eyal Zamir, made a visit to the field in the Gaza Strip. (TDI spokesperson’s unit)

When the Knesset broke out for its summer recess at the end of July, the coalition of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was about to collapse on the issue of conscription, even if the war against Hamas in Gaza intensified.

Likud’s legislator, Yuli Edelstein, told Fox News Digital that the ideal result would see the full -time students of the Torah continue their studies, while those who are not engaged in religious learning would be enrolled in the FDI.

“The army needs it, Israel needs it, and it is manageable – we can do it. What makes the task difficult is the lack of surveillance mechanism that Haredim would accept,” said Edelstein.

In July, the Likud party of Netanyahu withdrew Edelstein as president of the influence on the foreign affairs of the Knesset and the defense after having publicly accused the legislators of Haredi of refusing to conclude a compromise on the legislation that the body was ready to move forward.

The upheaval occurred a week after the ultra-Orthodox parties united Judaism of the Torah and Shas withdrew from the coalition to protest against the fact of not adopting legislation exempting from Haredi men from military service. However, they prevented from having motion of opposition non-conflict that could overthrow the government.

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish boys sit in front of police officers mounted during a demonstration against the project in the Israeli army on June 27, 2024 in Bnei Brak, Israel. (Ita Ron / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images)

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The Knesset is reconstituted for its winter session next month, giving Netanyahu just over a month to negotiate an agreement.

“We insisted that anyone who joins the army as a Haredi should leave as a Haredi, and we insisted that the army builds the infrastructure to make it possible. We really understand sensitivity,” Edelstein told Fox News Digital.

“The rabbis, for the moment, are not in favor of Haredim joining the army – not all, of course – but we are also trying to work with them,” he added.

Ido Keren is the founder of “Katef Le Katef” (“shoulder on the shoulder”), an organization of young military reservists from the whole political spectrum of Israel who advocates a universal conscription, both as a need for security and a question of equality. “”

The Ultra-Orthodox Jewish group gathers to protest against conscription before the military branch of such Hashomer in Tel Aviv, Israel, August 6, 2024. (Matan Golan / Anadolu via Getty Images)

“The FDI chief of staff said there was a shortage of 10,000 to 12,000 soldiers, and these gaps were to be filled,” Keren told Fox News Digital. “While 64,000 haredim are eligible for enrollment, they do not join. Meanwhile, the reservists continue to serve without a break.

“It is not logical that whole groups of Israeli society serve and pay taxes,” he continued, “while another group does not serve, does not pay taxes and obtains a free journey thanks to the others. The Jewish State is built on values ​​of mutual liability and unit.”

Reservists of the Israeli army protest against a bill which would grant exemptions to ultra-Orthodox Jews to serve in the army, outside the Israeli Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv on December 26, 2024. (Jack Guez / AFP via Getty Images)

Keren argued that the solution lies in the application of a universal bill supported by economic rather than criminal sanctions. Cutting public budgets for those who refuse to serve, he said, would push Haredim to enlist and enter the labor market, allowing them to contribute to Israeli society.

A former legislator of the Party of Ultra-Orthodox Judaism United Torah, Moshe Roth, told Fox News Digital that the roots of the debate date back to the Israel Foundation. “From the creation of the State, it has been understood that as a people of the book, it is essential for the spiritual and national existence of the country that part of the population is devoted to the study of the Torah,” he said.

Roth noted that about 20 years ago, the high court of Israel judged the agreement on the illegal status quo for having violated the principle of equality. Since then, the Knesset has tried several times – and has failed – to adopt legislation concerning the Haredi project.

Prime Minister Bejamin Netanyahu visits the air base Tel NOF on June 16, 2025, accompanied by the Minister of Defense Israel Katz and the Chief of Staff of Lieutenant-General Eyal Zamir. (GPO)

“It has become politically loaded and armed. Many parties use it as a tool to win votes, which has made the passage of an extremely difficult law. Even when the Knesset succeeds, the High Court often falls as it fails,” said Roth. “Since October 7, the problem has become even more sensitive.”

According to Roth, the FDIs resisted the editorial staff of Haredim for cultural reasons. “The army is progressive, and the students Yeshiva would change its character and dissuade women from being integrated. It will dramatically change the situation; the army is not too lively on this subject,” he said.

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During a tour of the Gaza Strip at the end of last month, the FDI staff chief, Lieutenant-General Eyal Zamir, called for the enrollment of all sectors.

“Israel’s security requires the full partnership of all parties of the nation. It is a civic duty and a national imperative. I call everyone to enlist and also contribute their share; this is the call of the time,” said Zamir.

The soldiers of Netzach Yehuda read a roll of the Torah during the formation of the battalion. Netzach Yehuda is a Haredi battalion of the KFIR brigade in the IDF. (Hillel maeir / tps-il)

In the meantime, the FDI makes progress to welcome religious soldiers. In January, dozens of ultra-Orthodox recruits joined the new Hasmonean brigade of the army. The battalion of Netzah Yehuda, formerly Nahal Haredi, allows the men of Haredi to serve as combat soldiers while observing strict religious practices.

In June, the FDIs announced that it issued more than 50,000 orders to orders to ultra-Oshiva students and increased the application against escape.

“We are trying to change a situation that has existed for 77 years,” Likoud told Fox News Digital. “It is an important and difficult change, a scary change, but it is necessary.”

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“We have no choice-both for military and social reasons,” he said.