I understand the anger. I genuinely do.
Like so many Israelis, I have spent decades serving in the IDF reserves. My children now serve as well. All of us are receiving multiple call-ups in this war to serve in Gaza, Lebanon, or Judea and Samaria. My family knows firsthand the sacrifices made by soldiers and reservists, and by the families who carry the burden alongside them.
There is no question in my mind that many more haredi (ultra-Orthodox) young men should be serving in the IDF, for one reason: it is a milchemet mitzvah (an obligatory war according to halacha).
That is not where the disagreement lies; it lies in how we get there.
As elections approach, I hear more voices saying they will no longer vote for parties in the current coalition because of recent legislation and compromises made with the haredi political parties over the draft issue. Their frustration and anger are understandable.
Yet it would be a national mistake if many soon make one of the most consequential political decisions of their lives based primarily on anger over a single issue, without considering the much broader consequences for Israel’s future. If we allow our justified frustration to erase the historical context that brought us here, we dramatically reduce our chances of actually solving the problem.
Many Israelis genuinely believe that cutting budgets, imposing sanctions, or making arrests will suddenly convince tens of thousands of haredim to enlist in the IDF. That fundamentally misunderstands the haredi worldview. This issue did not emerge overnight.
For years, the IDF repeatedly failed to fulfill its commitments to establish and maintain military frameworks that the haredi leadership trusted. At the same time, successive governments passed draft bills that, whether one agreed with them or not, were repeatedly struck down by the Supreme Court before gradual societal change could take root. Each time, the process began again from scratch.
Real societal transformation rarely happens through coercion alone. It requires trust, consistency, and patience.
Today, the Hashmonaim Brigade is validating that approach, successfully and steadily increasing haredi enlistment through a framework designed to meet their unique religious and cultural needs.
At the same time, voters must understand an additional uncomfortable political reality.
While many on the Left loudly demand greater haredi enlistment, they oppose the religious accommodations needed to make such enlistment possible. I believe this stems, at least in part, from an unwillingness to accept an IDF that becomes more openly Jewish. If the goal is truly to increase haredi enlistment, then those accommodations are part of the solution, not the problem.
Many of today’s loudest political voices have acknowledged that this is a long-term societal challenge. Gadi Eisenkot has said so publicly. Yair Golan has said so in a leaked video that has been publicized. Yet somehow, this issue has become one of the primary political weapons for bringing down the current government, for them to come to power and do the same thing.
I do not doubt that Yoaz Hendel genuinely cares and sincerely wants to find a solution. But good intentions alone are not enough. He cannot overcome the deeply entrenched resistance from parts of the haredi leadership and elements of the political Left.
Ironically, as I wrote in a Jerusalem Post op-ed nearly two years ago, the same voices on the political Left currently weaponizing the draft issue to topple Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will likely be the ones screaming loudest in refusing to send their own children to serve alongside a growing enlistment of haredi soldiers, because the army will have become “too Jewish.”
We also must distinguish between the haredi political leadership and the haredi public. Through educational initiatives that prepare haredi young men for military service, I have personally witnessed something that rarely makes headlines: many haredim genuinely want to contribute to Israel’s defense if they can do so within a framework that respects their religious way of life.
Are the numbers sufficient? Absolutely not. But the momentum is real.
So, as voters and as a country, do we strengthen that momentum or destroy it?
Looking at the bigger picture
If we think that a national strategy of punishment that brands millions of fellow Jews as freeloaders, and that cutting them off and arresting them will somehow produce unity and enlistment, I fear we may be satisfying our emotions while making integration far more difficult.
This doesn’t mean that recent compromises made with the haredi parties should not be criticized. Criticism is legitimate. Frustration is legitimate. Demanding greater enlistment is legitimate. But elections require voters to weigh every issue, not just the one causing the greatest emotional response.
During this extraordinarily difficult war, Israel achieved many historic military victories: it dramatically weakened Iran’s regional terror network, restored deterrence, expanded strategic cooperation with important allies, and strengthened Israel’s position throughout our ancestral homeland.
Yet these achievements remain fragile. The next government will determine whether Israel consolidates or retreats from those gains.
The result of voting out of anger over this one issue could very possibly bring an Eizenkot-led government that, according to public statements of his, will severely roll back achievements in this war and endanger Israel, like his campaign promise to allow over 100,000 Gazans to work in Israel.
Ultimately, every citizen will make their own decision in the voting booth. If someone concludes that the haredi draft issue outweighs every other national consideration, that is their democratic right. But I would urge voters to pause before allowing their anger, however justified, to become the sole lens through which they evaluate Israel’s future.
Our soldiers and reservists certainly deserve a serious solution. Our haredi brothers deserve a path to meaningful national service with a realistic chance of succeeding, one that enables successful integration into Israeli society.
Israel deserves leaders who are capable of addressing this challenge without sacrificing the equally critical issues of national security, sovereignty, and deterrence.
The haredi draft issue is enormously important. It is simply not the only issue that will determine Israel’s future.
The writer is the host of The Pulse of Israel daily video podcast and the CEO of the 12Tribe Films Foundation, which produces media content highlighting Israel’s biblical, historical, and strategic importance to the Jewish people and the world.