The IDF is currently preparing for the March 2020 recruitment round. However, this year the army is preparing to grant consideration to the ramifications of the Hebrew calendar with emphasis on Purim holiday.
As has been revealed many times on Arutz Sheva in recent years, recruiting Purim soldiers has led to many halakhic mishaps and complaints from soldiers and parents in observant families.
One of the military rabbis even submitted a detailed investigation to then Chief Military Rabbi Rafi Peretz, that reached the hands of then MK Betzalel Smotrich.
Smotrich approached the IDF and last year (March 19) the IDF refrained from recruiting soldiers on Purim and planned the roster while skipping the two days of Purim.
This year, the IDF chose to postpone all recruitment until after Purim to preserve the recruitment progression in the Metav unit of the Personnel Division, while honoring the observant soldiers and preserving the status of the holiday in the IDF.
A forum of rabbis in the IDF reserves told Arutz Sheva: "We congratulate Chief of Staff Kochavi for the progress. The IDF is a Jewish army, and we mark the Purim days, among other things, for the miracle of the war for our Jewish identity against our haters. It is good to see that despite the problem of Purim's status in the State of Israel, the IDF can give a proper place to the holiday and all the soldiers already at the planning level."