The following information was released by the IDF, painting a picture that may have many surprised as chareidim who declare limud Torah as their fulltime profession are far from the only draft-eligible individuals not entering the military.

We begin the report with the knowledge of the fact the IDF is short over 1,000 soldiers for this November’s induction, a major annual induction into the military. This is because last year the mandatory service time was cut and this has left a gap, which the military does not know how to fill at present.

According to the information released by the IDF, back in 2004, over 77% of draft eligible persons entered the military. That number has dropped to fewer than 72% in 2016. Over one half of the eligible men declare limud torah their fulltime occupation and a quarter of this group does not serve due to medical reasons.

The percentage of inductees interested in combat units has dropped from 70.3% in 2013 to 69.8% in 2016. The most popular units among those seeking combat positions are the Paratroop and Golani Brigades.

There has been a decline in the number of inductees seeking a combat position as more are looking at a cyber unit or the like as a viable service option. One of the ways the military is responding to the drop in motivation among male inductees to serve in combat units is to turn to females as an alternative in different positons in combat units. Thought is also being given to lowering the eligibility for a combat unit to a profile of 64. At present, anyone with a profile under 72 is not combat worthy. There is also discussion about increasing the presence of women in border police to 35%.

Among women, 83% of those not serving declare they lead a religious lifestyle. About 40% of draft age females never enter but among those who do, there is an increase in the number of women from the dati leumi community. Only 935 dati leumi women entered the IDF in 2010 and that number has increased to 2,159 today.

The desire to serve in a combat unit is going down as seen below, and this too has senior commanders concerned, seeking to understand the trend.

Desire to Serve in a Combat Unit

· 70.3% in November 2013

· 70.8% in November 2014

· 71.9% in November 2015

· 69.8% in November 2016

Percentage of Induction among draft-eligible men

· 75.5% in 2007

· 75.3% in 2010

· 73.7% in 2013

· 71.9% in 2016

Percentage of draft-eligible men who don’t serve

· 22.8% in 2004

· 25.1% in 2006

· 25.7% in 2008

· 25.2% in 2010

· 25.4% in 2012

· 27.3% in 2014

· 27.6% in 2015

· 28.4% in 2016

Increase in the number of religious girls entering the IDF

More and more girls graduating dati leumi high schools are making the decision to enter the IDF and often, they are encouraged to do so.

· 2010 – 935 religious girls entered military service

· 2011 – 1062

· 2012 – 1503

· 2013 – 1616

· 2014 – 1853

· 2015 – 2156

Numbers of those not entering the IDF

As reported, in 2016 the percentage of draft-eligible men entering the IDF was 71.9%. the following is a breakdown of those among the 28.1% who were released from service.

· 14.7% declare limud torah is their fulltime profession

· 7.1% received a medical discharge

· 3.4% represent persons with criminal records or not needed by the IDF

· 2.9% represents persons out of the country

Numbers of those not entering the IDF among women

58.1% of draft-eligible women entered the IDF while 41.9% were released from service. The following refers to those women released from service.

· 34.7% declare they are religious and cannot service

· 3.2% received a medical discharge

· 2.6% represents persons out of the country

· 0.8% the military already has sufficient number of personnel

· 0.6% represent women who are married

Reserve duty Colonel Yonatan Branski is a former Nachal Chareidi commander and he spoke with Kol Chai Radio on Thursday morning 16 Cheshvan explaining, the IDF has to come to certain realities amid an awareness that 30% of all first graders nationwide today are chareidi and in another 15 years, over fifty percent of all eligible inductees will be religious. Branski currently stands at the helm of the Nachal Chareidi Foundation and is constantly meeting with and dealing with issues pertaining to chareidim in the IDF.

Branski feels it was an error to create ‘chareidi companies within regular brigades including Givati and now Paratroops”, explaining that for as long as all the frum soldiers served in Nachal Chareidi they were in a closed framework and it was doable. The military succeeded in seeing to the needs of each company but today, with chareidi companies being a part of a non-chareidi brigade, there is a growing list of issues, adding he spoke with the IDF Chief of Staff before the idea was launched to expand to other brigades, speaking out against it.

As far as people saying many or most of the ‘chareidim’ in Nachal Chareidi are not really chareidi, he explains even in his time, some 15 years ago, some 30% of the members of the unit were dati leumi by their own definition. Branski clarifies that when the IDF classifies one as being ‘chareidi’ that means he comes from a chareidi home and/or was educated in a chareidi school. He points out that does not mean the individual is still leading a chareidi lifestyle and this varies from person to person.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)