Brigadier General Shay Taib, head of the IDF's Planning and Human Resources Division, on Tuesday addressed a meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, discussing data on draft-dodgers.
Referring to data presented last week, Taib noted that there has been a dramatic increase in the number of draft-dodgers: In just two years, the number of deserters and those included in Tzav 12 orders (unfulfilled recruitment orders) has risen from about 13,000 to about 68,000.
"The trend is clear, the numbers have grown dramatically," he said. According to him, most of the individuals joining this group are due to "the lack of a law, the lack of deferral, and they are most likely from the haredi public."
Regarding the breakdown of the data, Taib noted that the IDF can only definitively identify those who showed up and are in the system.
He added, "About 49% of the deserters and Tzav 12 orders are definitely from the haredi sector. As for the rest, there is no certain identification, but there are indications based on checks to see if the person studied in a haredi institution and using other logic that allows us to assess with high probability that the person comes from a haredi background."
"The IDF's assessment is that about 25%-30% of the group are probably haredi. Meaning that in total, nearly 80% are from the haredi community."