A new IDF administrative unit will begin operating after Sukkos with the goal of increasing enlistment to the military from the Charedi sector.

The new administrative branch will incorporate aspects from the entirety of the IDF and be considered part of the general staff branch of the military.

An officer with the rank of lieutenant colonel will oversee the new branch and be listed under the HR directorship of the IDF. Soldiers will be appointed to fill positions in the new branch whose entire job will be to help facilitate the enlistment.

During the final 8 months of military service, Charedi soldiers who enlisted between the ages of 18 and 21 will be given courses that will help them finish their matriculation.This will be in an effort to help them enter the Israeli workforce.

According to an IDF report, more than 95 percent of the Charedi soldiers who finish the military find jobs and continue in the Israeli workforce afterward.

In order to help cater to the requests of the Charedi soldiers and community, the new branch will oversee the location in which the Charedi soldiers serve, the location in which they sleep, where they fight, their food and set up a separate entrance in and out of the registration office as well as a separate website for them to use in order to get information about their enlistment and service.

According to a recent report on Charedim 10, during 2016, approximately 7,000 Charedim served in the IDF. While that number rose in 2017 it is far from the projected goal that the government and IDF had set out for. Among those only 1,304 Charedi soldiers are between the ages of 18 and 21, the rest enlisted via programs especially set up and designed for older soldiers.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)