While a ministerial committee was told this week that there was an increase in chareidi enlistment into the IDF in 2013-2014, the Hiddush NGO says otherwise, stating the numbers presented are not accurate. Hiddush compares statements boasting an increase in enlistment are as credible as Hamas boasting a military victory against the IDF during Operation Protective Edge.
The committee boasted a 39% increase in enlistment, with Committee Chairman Minister Science (Yesh Atid) Yaakov Peri calling the trend “the beginning of a social revolution”.
Hiddush CEO Uri Regev explains in fact, chareidi enlistment is down sharply, cut by half as a result of the new draft law. Hiddush details that in the first half of the July to December of the 2013-2014 draft year, 1,235 chareidim entered the IDF but what is more significant is the remainder of the draft year, January to July during which induction numbers dropped to 623 chareidim as the consequences of the draft law were seen.
Hiddush explains that they played with the numbers to include the numbers that preceded the resistance to the draft in response to the passing of the law. Hence concludes Hiddush the actual draft numbers in the chareidi community do not come close to government predictions.
Regev blames the new draft on the sharp reduction in chareidi enlistment and expresses a hope that Operation Protective Edge will reverse the negative trend.
In a comment directed at Finance Minister Yair Lapid and Economy Minister Naftali Bennett, Regev explained the “Social revolution will not be conducted on Facebook and via media announcements but through changes in society”.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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11 Responses
this is why we won’t enlist!The only social revolution we charedim want to see is more jews returning to Hashem!
The lesser the besser. No frum yid should place himself in the morally degenerate idf.
And we all know which kinds of changes Regev and Lapid and Bennet and the rest of the gang(sters) want
From the past year-
Sunday September 15, 2013
Talk about apologizing before Yom Kippur. But this is probably not what you had in mind.
Israeli Finance Minister Yair Lapid, in a post on his Facebook page on Erev Yom Kippur, apologized for not yet drafting chareidim,initiating civil marriage and providing public transportation on Shabbos.
“I have what to apologize for, Master of the Universe, but not for mistakes we [in the Yesh Atid party] made, but for what we have not yet changed,” Lapid wrote on his page
How reliable can all other ( religious) news coming from Israel be?
More Chareidim are Entering the IDF (10 opinions)
(Monday September 8, 2014)
Despite a predicted sharp decline in the number of chareidim entering the IDF due to the chareidi draft efforts, data presented to a ministerial committee shows otherwise. According to the numbers presented to a ministerial committee on Sunday 12 Elul, there is a 39% increase in the number of chareidim entering the IDF. In 2013-2014 a total of 1,972 chareidim entered the IDF while …
Thank you for correcting the record.
Political propaganda always needs to be checked out for accuracy and honesty, especially when there is an obvious agenda behind it, and should never be accepted, nor reported, on its face as fact.
BH for am Yisroel.
The only group that will exert efforts to prove either A is true or B is true and fight it out till the end.
Zionist hareidi will enlist, have enlisted and will continue to enlist. Being hareidi, they will serve in the IDF since according to their religious beliefs it is a mitsva to do.
Anti-zionists will continue to refuse like they have always done. The refuse since accoding to their religious beliefs it is an averirah to do so.
Defining “who is hareidi” is impossible and offers wonderful opportunities to fudge statistics. However not accepting the government of Medinat Yisrael as have any halachic validity is probably a good definition of “hareidi”.
YWN needs to identify what Hiddush is in any report they make about them!Hiddush is a rabid charedi-and-Orthodox-hating organization headed by the former head of the Reform movement in Israel and funded by (guess who?)far-leftists and the Reform movement.Its goal is to eliminate any influence of Judaism or religious Jews in Israel.YWN-make this clear so your readers know what their agenda really is!
jerusalem mom: If you really want more Jews returning to Hashem (which we all do), then there has to be positive interactions with Chilonim for them to understand what Torah Judaism really is. All they see now is a heavy handed approach and control with anything to do with religion and it turns them off, not brings them closer. The same thing, religious-wise, can be accomplish in a more mentchlach way.
There are plenty of Frum people in the IDF. Videos of siyumin by soldiers during the Gaza war were made public by soldiers. There is no excuse for a Chareidi, who is not learning full time, to avoid the army, other that cowardess and peer pressure.
I know of a number of Baalei Teshuva, who became Frum because of interaction with Frum soldiers, including one who is a Chosid living in Meah Shearim today.
“I know of a number of Baalei Teshuva, who became Frum because of interaction with Frum soldiers, including one who is a Chosid living in Meah Shearim today.” and who will likely strongly oppose his children joining the IDF.
BarryLS1:I know many more Chareidi and Dati Leumi who became chiloni completely because of interaction with soldiers and officers while in the IDF.Daas Torah is not peer pressure yet it does dictate that the number of baalei teshuva that you suggest may be caused by this interaction does not outweigh the risks.