The government has changed rules regarding military service in order to allow hareidi-religious men to opt out of military service at age 22, not age 26. The change was made quietly in a meeting two weeks ago, and revealed to the public Sunday.
Until now, the Tal Law has allowed hareidi-religious young men to opt out of military service while studying Torah full time. When they reached the age of 22, they could choose to take part in a shortened military service or, if the army gave its permission, to participate in civilian service instead.
The army generally allowed young men to choose civilian service over military service at age 22 only if they were married with a child, while those who were married without children or unmarried were expected to enlist in the IDF if they were not yet 26 years old.
The new regulations will allow hareidi-religious men to choose civilian service beginning at age 22 regardless of their family status. A second recommended change, which would have seen hareidi-religious men released from any form of service by age 25, was removed from the agenda.
Officials in charge of civil service volunteer organizations have begun preparing for an expected significant increase in the number of volunteers.
The decision is expected to save the government money. Many hareidi-religious soldiers have wives and children, and so receive a significantly higher IDF salary than do unmarried soldiers.
The decision was met with criticism from some. The Hadush organization, the name of which is the Hebrew acronym for “Freedom, Religious, Equality,” stated that the change dealt a blow to the principle of equality, by creating different service requirements for hareidi-religious men and others.