There is no more infuriating, disturbing, and heartbreaking sight than the one that confronts us week after week: young Israelis risking their lives on the battlefield, while their Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) brothers sit in yeshiva study halls, sheltered from all harm. The heart aches, the anger is justified, and the demand for an equal sharing of the burden is a legitimate moral demand. But when an abstract principle is wielded as a political weapon - without a realistic perspective, without context, and without an understanding of the economic and demographic future - the result is destructive.
The Supreme Court and the zealots of equality have played a decisive role in exacerbating the problem of Haredi non-enlistment. In the name of a noble and important principle, every attempt to devise gradual, pragmatic solutions has repeatedly been blocked.
Yet in real life, equality has never been, and never will be, absolute.
Do we not already grant broad exemptions on religious, conscientious, or medical grounds? Are religious young women not overwhelmingly exempt from military service under historical arrangements formulated in the days of David Ben-Gurion and Menachem Begin - among the greatest leaders Israel has known? Do the thousands of young people performing national-civil service risk their lives to the same degree as soldiers in the Golani Brigade and the Armored Corps? And what of the Arab community, which is not called upon to serve at all - does equality not suffer there as well?
The simple truth is that jurists and politicians have transformed equality from a guiding principle into a fundamentalist religion. They have preferred to cut off the country's nose to spite its face - so long as a hollow legal victory can be recorded on paper.
Political Cynicism on Both Sides
The current deadlock, which has persisted since the Tal Law was annulled, reflects one of the most sensitive and complex issues in Israeli society. The failure to reach a resolution is no accident. As with other difficult issues in Israeli society, it serves cynical actors from every part of the political spectrum.
On one side are Haredi power brokers and elderly rabbis who cling to an insular, separatist worldview while relying on the public purse. For them, control over a weakened population - dependent on welfare payments and cut off from education and employment - is the only guarantee of preserving their power.
On the other side are the opposition and secular agitators, who see this issue as a political gold mine for attacking the government and coalition and whipping up hostility against them, without offering even the beginnings of a practical solution. Everyone profits politically at the public's expense, while Israeli society sinks ever deeper into a vortex of self-hatred.
But a country cannot be governed while blind to reality. Haredim account for approximately 12.5 percent of Israel's population (about 1.3 million people). Persisting with an "all or nothing" model guarantees that every side loses; in doing so, we mortgage our future and that of generations to come for the sake of a confrontation that has torn Israeli society apart since the founding of the state.
Addressing the Central Fear of Parents and Rabbis
So how do we break out of this vicious cycle? By adopting a pragmatic, intelligent, and bold approach.
First, we must adopt a proven, successful model - one that has already worked among Haredi women over recent decades. Today, approximately 82 percent of Haredi women - tens of thousands of them - participate in the workforce, including in high-tech and other technology fields, earn respectable salaries, and lift their families out of poverty. How did this happen? Because employers and colleges had the foresight to create separate, tailored environments that respect their way of life and faith.
The very same logic should be applied to young Haredim, who make up most of the community. Dedicated, tailored pre-military technology academies should be established, offering one to two years of study. Upon completing the program, graduates would join the IDF's technological units and the security services in a framework modeled on hesder yeshivot - programs that combine Torah study with military service - while fully preserving their Haredi way of life, including gender-segregated arrangements, Badatz-standard kashrut, and regular prayer services.
This solution addresses the central fear of parents and rabbis: that a young Haredi man will enlist as a Torah-observant Jew and emerge secular.
At the same time, the focus should be on Haredim aged 18 to 24 who are liable for military service, while older men should receive an immediate exemption. Insisting on drafting older Haredi men is folly. The draft obligation and the dedicated programs should be concentrated on the younger cohort, and anyone past that age should receive a complete exemption so that he can enter the workforce immediately.
In parallel, a national consensus should be reached on a defined quota of prodigies and exceptional scholars who will continue their studies - those for whom Torah truly is their vocation. Preserving Jewish tradition and Torah is a shared spiritual and national interest.
The IDF Will Benefit Threefold
Some will ask what the IDF stands to gain. My answer: a great deal.
In fact, the IDF would benefit directly in several key ways. First, it would significantly expand a distinctive pool of high-quality human capital. The Lithuanian yeshiva tradition and prolonged Talmudic analysis cultivate advanced analytical skills, complex reasoning, attention to detail, rapid self-directed learning, and an ability to crack intricate problems. These cognitive skills can be applied directly to quality assurance, cybersecurity, algorithm design, and software development.
Second, it would help alleviate the military's critical shortage of technological personnel. Growing security challenges require an ever-larger and more capable cadre in intelligence, communications, and technology. Expanding the pool of potential recruits from the Haredi community would give the IDF access to a large talent pool that has not yet been tapped and would ease the burden on these units.
Finally, the third benefit concerns personnel retention and the creation of meaningful, sustained service. Haredi candidates who enlist in these programs would arrive highly motivated to acquire a profession and contribute, and many would be willing to continue into career service, training, and command positions. This would allow the IDF to maintain professional continuity and preserve critical knowledge in its specialized units.
An even more important benefit would be that graduates of these technological units would enter the high-tech industry and become part of the engine that has powered the Israeli economy so successfully for four decades. This would offer the best possible long-term return for Israel's economy and society - one built on strength and empowerment.
Instead of wasting enormous resources on tracking down draft evaders, imprisoning young Haredim, and futilely pursuing recruits, technological excellence tracks would offer a mutually beneficial alternative for every part of Israeli society.
Market Forces Will Defeat the Power Brokers
When politicians speak of criminal sanctions and coercion, they merely fortify the walls surrounding Haredi society. By contrast, when a young Haredi sees before him a prestigious, empowering path that gives him status, high-tech skills, and a high salary - without requiring him to cast aside his kippah and tzitzit - market forces will take their course.
Even the community's leadership and rabbis will be unable to withstand the enormous drive of young Haredim to escape the poverty trap and forge ahead - a trend already unfolding beneath the surface. Today, many groups of moderate Haredim seek to combine Torah study and work. Admittedly, dialogue with the community's leaders is not easy, but there too recognition of reality is growing, as is a willingness to compromise and accept quotas.
The Haredim are our brothers. They are an inseparable part of Israel's future, resilience, and identity. The time has come to address this national challenge wisely and sensitively, without politicization and without judges attempting to engineer society under the maxim "Let the law pierce the mountain." Such an approach is always destructive and produces results opposite to those intended by its proponents.
I hope the next government will be able to confront this challenge courageously and wisely, without populism or empty slogans.
True leadership is measured by the ability to break free of barren assumptions and advance creative solutions. Integrating Haredim into technology and the IDF is neither a utopian vision nor a pipe dream - it is a practical, attainable plan of action. All that is required is to replace parliamentary and judicial zealotry with civic and national courage: to escape the trap of excessive legalism and rigid adherence to abstract concepts, and to replace them with a practical, realistic approach that will ultimately benefit everyone - the military, the Haredim, and Israeli society.
The author is a public activist and chair of the "Israel for the Negev" nonprofit organization