One of the matters still on the Shaked Committee agenda is how and who will determine which talmidim are chareidim, referring to graduates of yeshivos ketanos.

According to a report filed by Yair Ettinger in Haaretz, a determination will have to be made regarding graduates of yeshivos ketanos as to who will be classified as a chareidi and who will be directed towards the IDF. The language used by the Shaked Committee to refer to yeshivos ketanos is מוסדות תרבותיים ייחודיים, “unique cultural institutions”.

Ayelet Shaked (Bayit Yehudi) and Ofir Shelach (Yesh Atid) recently eliminated the paragraph that stated “an educational institution of systematic education that includes religious Jewish studies or a part of the education institution, the minister of education shall make a determination with approval from the Knesset Committee on Education, Culture and Sport as a chareidi institution”. The Justice Ministry insisted on including the paragraph. This empowers the education minister to decide which schools are “chareidi” or not for purposes of IDF induction.

According to people close to the hearings, this means that chareidi schools that offer a bagrut matriculation diploma will be included in the regular draft and they will not be viewed as “unique cultural institutions”, hence they will not be viewed as part of the chareidi community.

Haaretz adds that law includes frum soldiers that are viewed as “chareidi leumi” such as Chabad, baalei teshuvah and youths who have fallen from the derech, but they will be placed in appropriate units to accommodate their lifestyles. The inclusion of the new paragraph officials believe will facilitate achieving the annual goal for chareidi induction, 5,200 bochrim and avreichim annually according to Ettinger.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)