Haredi draft

Israel 'abandoned' haredi students, education reform needed, Aliza Bloch tells 'Post' - interview

She criticized the structure of Israel's education system, arguing that the government has ceded too much responsibility for decisions affecting students to bodies outside the public sector.

Former Beit Shemesh mayor and Unity Party member Aliza Bloch in an interview with 'The Jerusalem Post.'
Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) protesters block Highway 4 over detention of draft dodger, August 12, 2026.

Haredi protesters block major Israeli highway after draft dodger's arrest

Esther Luzzatto

From forced conscription to integration by choice

Gadi Eisenkot, head of the Yashar party attends a conference in the northern Israeli city of Haifa, July 9, 2026.

Shas invokes IDF soldiers in election campaign ad, drawing Gadi Eisenkot's ire


A-G asks High Court to strike down 'discriminatory' haredi draft enforcement freeze

The law passed the Knesset on July 14. Justice Ofer Grosskopf froze it the following day and ordered the state and Knesset to explain why it should not be struck down.

Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara attends a House committee meeting at the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament in Jerusalem on, June 8, 2026.

Netanyahu’s haredi gamble may become his biggest election liability - analysis

Years of concessions to haredi partners may now pose a political risk for Netanyahu, as right-wing voters express growing anger over the draft exemption issue.

PRIME MINISTER Benjamin Netanyahu is seen walking past haredi lawmaker Yitzhak Goldknopf, at the Prime Minister’s Office in 2023.

Haredi draft dodgers should avoid airports, border crossings to evade arrest, yeshiva council warns

It added that yeshiva students who wish to travel abroad and have not shown up for their draft order must ensure they are allowed to fly and will not be arrested at the airport.

Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) protesters block Highway 4 near Bnei Brak during an anti-draft protest, December 22, 2025.

Mandatory service extension will not solve army manpower crisis, head of IDF personnel warns

Bar Kalifa wrote that the extension of mandatory service approved by the Knesset plenum on Thursday “does not eliminate the need to expand the pool of draftees.”

Maj.-Gen. David (Dado) Bar Kalifa, Head of the Manpower Directorate attends a State Control Committee meeting at the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament in Jerusalem, on September 17, 2025.

Over 70 mayors, council leaders file petition against haredi draft exemption law

"Studying Torah is an important value in the Jewish people, but no less important than that is the value of preserving and defending the land," the petition explained.

 Haredi men are seen protesting the effort to draft ultra-Orthodox Israelis into the IDF.

New haredi party launches, aiming to secure spot in Knesset ahead of elections

The new ultra-Orthodox Haredi Public Party led by the deputy mayor of Beit Shemesh, Moti Leitner, launched on Sunday with a large-scale advertising campaign in major haredi cities.

The Haredi Public party launched a large-scale advertising campaign at the entrances to and exits from major haredi cities on July 19, 2026.

Haredi leaders, Yahya Sinwar: Different ideologies, the same refusal to face reality - opinion

In Keinon’s reading, Gaza’s devastation was not an unforeseen consequence. It was a price Sinwar was prepared to pay in the hope of igniting a regional war that would ultimately destroy Israel.

United Torah Judaism MKs Moshe Gafni and Yitzhak Goldknopf attend a Knesset vote on a bill to freeze arrests of haredi draft evaders, in Jerusalem, July 14, 2026

Israel's government knew the risks of haredi draft evasion – and ignored them - opinion

Leadership is supposed to be about making difficult decisions for the good of the country, even when they carry political costs. What we saw this week is the opposite.

A plenum session and a vote on a bill to freeze arrests of haredi draft evaders at the assembly hall of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, July 14, 2026.

The 'most right-wing government' just outed itself as leftist - opinion

This is not a technical legal debate over exemptions. It is a fundamental strategic choice about the future security of the State of Israel.

The Knesset plenum is seen during a vote on the communications reform, in Jerusalem, July 16, 2026

Why Gadi Eisenkot is rejecting the haredi political embrace that once helped Netanyahu win

POLITICAL AFFAIRS: Yitzhak Yosef’s embrace – and Eisenkot's effort to distance himself from it – reflects Israel's shifting political landscape.

Amid reports that the Shas Party could be willing to sit with him in government, Yashar Party head Gadi Eisenkot did not rule out that option entirely. Here, Eisenkot attends the Sagi Laws for Equality Confrence at the Peres Center in Jaffa earlier this week.