Nearly 200 haredi young men participated on Monday in a tour of the Tevetz base of the haredi “Hashmonaim" Brigade, ahead of their upcoming enlistment.
Most of the youngsters, who are expected to join the IDF within about two weeks, came to gain firsthand insight into the service conditions and daily atmosphere in the brigade-one that integrates combat service with a haredi lifestyle.
During the visit, one of the participants tried to reach a soldier in the unit to hear about his experience. He received an unexpected reply: “I’m out running with the soldiers outside the base, in memory of the fallen."
A pre-enlistee who witnessed the moment told Arutz Sheva: “He came back from the run exhausted, but with a huge smile. Seeing someone doing something so meaningful, so committed and at peace with his path, it gave us real strength ahead of enlistment."
The soldier in question is Sgt. Shmili Yakter, a squad commander in the “Hashmonaim" Brigade. Raised in an extremist Hasidic community in Bnei Brak, he was absent without leave for nearly a thousand days before turning himself in, serving a prison sentence in a military jail, and then enlisting in combat service.
In an interview with Kan News before beginning a squad commanders’ course several months ago, he explained that his decision to enlist stemmed from witnessing wounded soldiers. “Seeing heroic soldiers who lost arms and legs shook me deeply," he said. “I told myself-there’s no way they gave everything they had while I just sit on the sidelines."
Most of those touring the base are 18-year-old students from haredi preparatory programs and yeshiva graduates seeking to contribute to the war effort. One participant told Arutz Sheva that what unites them is a shared desire to serve in combat roles without compromising their identity as God-fearing Jews.