We are told that the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, chaired by MK Boaz Bismuth, is nearing a final draft of the new conscription law.
The skeptics have already dubbed it the “Draft-Dodging Law.” I don’t expect much from the usual seasonal protest groups-but I do expect more from those in the national-religious camp who have fallen prey to manipulation.
The religious-Zionist soldier is certainly no less spiritually devoted than his haredi counterpart. But unlike him, his threshold for sacrifice is far higher: he is willing to risk his life for the people of Israel twice-both on the battlefield and in his spiritual life. For the religious soldier, military service is not only a physical trial but also a test of faith-fighting to uphold his religious values without systemic protection or “special conditions” like those granted to the haredi soldiers in the “Netzah Yehuda” Battalion or the new “Hashmonaim” unit.
The haredi recruit does not arrive at the draft office with the same emotional or spiritual resilience as a young man from the hills of Samaria. The haredim, true to the actual meaning of their name in Hebrew, are anxious-fearful of outside influences, of social change, of erosion in their way of life. That is precisely why they live in insular communities, avoiding television, internet and other technological wonders. To bring haredim into the army, one must first persuade their community that the IDF has no intent to secularize them or alter their identity. That requires trust. And trust, at present, is nowhere to be found.
The IDF of 2025 has become fertile ground for political agendas. Consider the office of the Chief of Staff’s Gender Affairs Advisor (Yohalam): a conduit for progressive social engineering. Those are the winds blowing through the corridors of the General Staff, shaping Israel’s defense policy. If gender integration is treated as a supreme value by the IDF, how will that coexist with the “exclusion of women” that would inevitably result from mass haredi enlistment? Already today, the army struggles to accommodate religious soldiers regarding women’s singing or shared sleeping arrangements. As a confidence-building measure, the IDF should amend the Joint Service Order to explicitly commit to respecting the religious lifestyle of haredi recruits.
And by the way-will a secular or Arab draft-dodger also face a travel ban as was suggested in MK Bismuth’s committee? Or a restriction to “qualify” for a driver’s license? Or are those penalties reserved only for haredim? Moreover, why is the issue of Arab enlistment never discussed alongside that of the haredim? Wasn’t this all supposed to be about “equality in bearing the burden”? The entire debate reeks of political vengeance and gratuitous hatred toward one specific segment of Israeli society. This issue was politicized the very moment it landed on the Supreme Court’s desk back in the late 1990s.
The main argument for drafting haredim is the civic duty to share the burden-especially after the Gaza war, when reservists groaned under hundreds of days of service. Yet as someone who served as a combat soldier, I deeply doubt the benefit of coerced conscription. Combat service is not something one can be forced into; you either come willingly-or you don’t come at all. The debate ignores the psychological foundation of combat motivation.
What is a soldier without spirit? To reach even a minimal level of combat readiness, one must begin nurturing that sense of mission from early childhood. That is why, more than legal coercion, outreach and education within the haredi community are key.
In fact, the Simchat Torah massacre has already done much of that work. In the past two years, we’ve seen a historic shift-haredi enlistment rates higher than ever, achieved without threats or legislation. This momentum must be preserved-not by coercion, but through compassion. Israel must show that mutual responsibility through military service can become part of the Haredi-Israeli DNA. The tectonic change is already happening beneath the surface. What lawmakers must do now is simple: don’t ruin it. Act with sense and sensibility.
It’s no wonder that left-wing elements eager to topple the government will seize this as a wedge issue, exploiting it to sow division and chaos. For them, anything goes-even sabotaging what may be the most profound social transformation since the founding of the state.
The potential for Israeli society is enormous. But let’s be honest with ourselves, shall we? Mass haredi enlistment would likely change the IDF’s character, perhaps even turning it into an army with a distinctly haredi spirit.
Then again, given the deep institutional decay exposed since the disaster of October 7, perhaps drastic change is exactly what the IDF needs. Maybe, just maybe, the salvation this time will indeed come-from the haredim.
Odelia Kedmi is Deputy Mayor of Zikhron Ya’aqov, a civil law attorney and women’s rights advocate for self- defense.