The State Comptroller, retired judge Yosef Shapira, published the State Comptroller’s Report, which criticizes the defense establishment for its involvement in the recruitment of chareidi soldiers. According to the report, there are delays in advancing yeshiva students’ recruitment goals for the IDF in the years 2013-2016, when the government’s funding targets were not actually met, during this period, he writes.

The person who is spared critical personal criticism is Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman. Justice Shapira wrote: “In January 2016, the government established an inter-ministerial team to promote compliance with yeshiva students’ recruitment goals, which stipulates that the defense minister will formulate a draft decision for the program to advance the recruitment of yeshivah students, to be approved by the government within 40 days from the date submitted.”

“Despite this determination, the defense minister brought a draft resolution to the government for approval only in February 2017, even though the inter-ministerial team submitted a multi-year plan to the defense minister as early as April 2016. At the end of the audit, the government has yet to discuss the plan, which it determined.”

In addition, he found deficiencies in the supervision and enforcement mechanism, whose function is to monitor yeshiva students who are rejected for service, in order to recruit those who do not study in the yeshiva.

“The IDF currently serves about 7,000 chareidim, and the army is working to recruit chareidi soldiers in a way that will suit their lifestyle and according to the directives of the political echelon,” the IDF said in response to the allegations.

“Thousands of chareidi soldiers are given the tools and abilities to continue their lives, while maintaining their unique way of life, with the understanding that their service is vital and significant in all IDF systems.”

“Chareidi recruitment to the IDF is constantly on the rise, the chareidim administration was established about three months ago, and it is a belief in the treatment of the chareidi population as a human resource necessary for the success of the people’s army in its mission. In the enlistment year 2016 (until July 1, 2017), the IDF carried out 90 percent of the government’s goals in recruiting chareidim, meaning that about 2,850 chareidi soldiers enlisted.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)