Tel Aviv [Israel], January 15 (ANI/TPS): Hundreds of Orthodox Jews protesting plans to enlist Haredim into the army blocked a Tel Aviv road leading to the Israel Defense Forces's largest recruitment center on Wednesday.
Protests turned violent outside the Tel Hashomer recruitment center as demonstrators attacked Haredi soldiers, calling them "traitors," and scuffled with police.
"I am not fazed by this," one of the targeted Haredi soldiers, who requested anonymity, told The Press Service of Israel. "I grew up in an environment where some of my brothers enlisted too, so such an attitude is not new to me."
The protesters shouted the derogatory term "Hardak" at the Haredi soldiers - a combination of the words "Haredi" and "haidak," which means bug.
The protest was organized by the Jerusalem Faction, an Israeli Haredi political group known for its opposition to military service through street protests.
"We need to distinguish between those in the Haredi sector who see value in Zionism and the army, and those who oppose it with all their might," the soldier told TPS-IL. "We're a minority. It's growing, but too slowly."
Defense Minister Israel Katz told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Tuesday that the rate of Haredim inducted into service should be raised gradually over time. Katz said his target goal was to have 50% of Israel's draft-eligible Haredim serving in 2032.
"I came here today to present principles for a draft that will result in the conscription of tens of thousands of Haredim," Katz told lawmakers.
The military began making plans to draft yeshiva students after Israel's High Court of Justice ruled in June that exemptions for the Haredi community were illegal. The issue has not been resolved and is contributing to a coalition crisis that forced Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to leave the hospital againstthe advice of his doctors to cast his vote on government legislation.
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.
However, the Orthodox community has grown significantly since Israel's founding. In January 2023, the Central Bureau of Statistics reported that Haredim are Israel's fastest-growing community and projected it would constitute 16% of the population by the end of the decade. According to the Israel Democracy Institute, the number of yeshiva students exceeded 138,000 in 2021.
A recent survey found that the Israeli public is shifting decisively in favor of integrating Orthodox Jews into military service. The Israel Democracy Institute found that only 9% of Israelis support the current arrangement exempting Haredim from military service, a steep decline from 22% ten months earlier. (ANI/TPS)