At the beginning of the ground offensive into gaza, the haredi ‘Tomer’ division of the Givati brigade took part in combat inside the Gaza Strip, as well as fighting in the surrounding region on October 7th itself. Soldiers from a squad commanders course in the Netzah Yehuda battalion fought alongside them.
Over the past few weeks, additional haredi soldiers have joined the brigade in its first ever ground offensive deep inside enemy territory, alongside soldiers from the Paratroopers Brigade.
Several haredi soldiers have been killed in action over the course of the fighting, including Staff sergeant Benjamin Loeb on October 7th and Captain (res.) Harel Sharvit z"l who led a group of soldiers and accomplishing military objectives inside Gaza.
Yossi Levy, director of the Netzah Yehuda charity, related that the haredi soldiers went out with a great sense of purpose and extremely high morale. He claims that it is important to haredi soldiers to prove themselves capable in the battlefield. “We call for young haredim, who are learning Torah professionally and in a registered Yeshiva to come and take on meaningful service in Netzah Yehuda, in which they guard Israel physically and spiritually,” he said.
Netzah Yehuda is currently deployed on the border with Syria and the northern Samaria region. They have recently sent dozens of soldiers to aid in the war effort in the Gaza strip as part of the Kfir Brigade.
Rabbi Shaul Avdiel, one of the Rabbis of the Netzah Yehuda charity who personally accompanies the soldiers, stated “It is exciting to see haredi soldiers keeping all the commandments carefully. The sword and scroll go together, as they hold the Torah scroll in one hand and with the other fight for the future and security of the nation of Israel.”
Additionally, thousands of soldiers and officers formerly from Netzah Yehuda and other haredi battalions took part in the fighting in different areas, including Jabaliya in the Gaza Strip and parts of Judea and Samaria. Some of the reservists have been deployed for 90 consecutive days in combat roles.
Additional battalions attached to the Haredi divisions, including more than 1,000 reservist, carried out all the search assignments near the Supernova festival site and throughout the Gaza region under mortar and rocket shelling. Many more haredi soldiers occupied positions in a variety of different units.