The IDF expects 5,000 hareidi-religious young men to become eligible for enlistment by July of next year, IDF Radio (Galei Tzahal) reports. Many hareidi men face mandatory enlistment this year after decades in which any man studying in yeshiva was able to defer service.
IDF commanders said they will set up three new brigades for the new recruits that will allow soldiers to maintain their level of religious observance. There are currently multiple frameworks in place for hareidi soldiers in the IDF, the best-known of which is the Netzach Yehuda brigade (Nachal Hareidi).