IDF okays protocol aimed at enabling Haredi troops to stay religious throughout service |
The Israel Defense Forces announced Tuesday that it approved new protocols regulating the service conditions for Haredi troops, as the government works to advance legislation giving ultra-Orthodox men renewed exemptions from military service.
Facing a manpower shortage, the IDF said in a statement that the General Staff order is aimed at enabling more ultra-Orthodox men to join the military while maintaining their level of religiosity throughout their service. IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir has said that expanding Haredi enlistment is “an essential operational necessity.”
“The purpose of the order is to establish instructions regarding the manner of service of members of the Haredi community in the IDF, taking into account the nature and essence of military service, while recognizing the unique character of the Haredi population, with the aim of enabling Haredi soldiers to preserve their faith and maintain their way of life as they see fit across the variety of designated service tracks deployed throughout the IDF,” the military said in a statement.
The IDF has worked for years to integrate members of the Haredi community, although without any binding guidelines, relying instead on internal policy within the Personnel Directorate. The new order, at the General Staff level, carries binding authority and mandates oversight of the service conditions for Haredi soldiers.
The order only applies to Haredi men who enlist within three new designated service tracks. Ultra-Orthodox troops who choose to serve in a unit that is not within the new service tracks would not be entitled to the new protocols.
The first service track is named “Magen,” Hebrew for shield, where male Haredi soldiers are assigned to a gender-segregated team within a unit that also has female troops. The units within this track are mostly noncombat, such as........