The Haredi draft
Why yeshiva students' exemption from military service broke a government, what Israelis think should replace it, and where each party stands.
- No compulsory service for anyoneJoint List7.7
- Exempt those who study TorahUTJ7.6
- Draft those who leave yeshivaShasNoam7.6
- Raise Haredi service step by stepLikudReligious Zionism–ZehutOtzma Yehudit35.2
- Draft everyone, military or civilianPeople of IsraelYashar!B'YachadThe DemocratsYisrael BeiteinuReservists–EconomicBlue and White57.1
Answers in order from one end of the debate to the other. Seats are the current polling average; the tick is 61. Each list's own words and sources.
Facts checked October 5, 2026. Every number shows its source and date.
What is at stake
The conscription law makes every Israeli citizen who reaches 18 liable for service (Zeidan Atashi, former Druze MK, via Jewish Virtual Library). In practice the army calls up Jewish men and women and Druze men (Pew Research Center, March 2016), and Circassians; Muslim, Bedouin and Christian Arab citizens are not called up and may volunteer (Atashi, via Jewish Virtual Library). Compulsory service "will remain at 32 months", the Knesset decided in July 2026, against the army's request for more (Ynet, July 2026). Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) men have, for most of the state's history, been able to defer service year after year while studying full-time in yeshiva. David Ben-Gurion, the first defense minister, ordered the deferral for students for whom "Torah is their calling" (Torato umanuto). It was capped at about 400 a year until 1970; a quota of 800 was set in 1975, and "following the coalition agreement of 1977, the quota was abolished altogether," the Supreme Court recounted in 1998 (Supreme Court, HCJ 3267/97, Dec 9, 1998, via Cardozo Law School). Why Palestinian citizens of Israel are not drafted is a separate question, covered on Palestinian citizens of Israel.
The Supreme Court struck down the laws that put the deferral into statute: the Tal Law in 2012, and a 2015 amendment in 2017 (IDI, January 2026). On June 25, 2024, a unanimous nine-justice panel ruled there is "no legal basis for avoiding the recruitment of yeshiva students" and that the state may not fund the yeshivas of men who should be drafted (Times of Israel, June 2024). In April 2026 it ordered personal sanctions, including loss of discounted housing and daycare subsidies (IDI, April 2026). On September 3, 2026, it voided a July 2026 law shielding yeshiva students from arrest. The ruling counted about 73,664 "draft evaders", the term used in Israeli debate (this page says yeshiva students who did not report), of whom 219 had been arrested (Jerusalem Post, September 2026).
Since October 7, 2023, the argument has been about manpower as much as principle. The IDF says it is short about 12,000 soldiers, 6,000–7,500 of them in combat roles (IDI, January 2026). Average reserve duty was 94 days in 2024 and 78 in 2025 (Times of Israel, June 2026).
Haredi enlistment has roughly doubled, from about 1,800 a year before the war to at least 4,000 in 2025–26, a preliminary figure, against an army target of 4,800 and about 14,000 Haredi men reaching draft age each year (Times of Israel, July 2026; Jerusalem Post, July 2026). Draft orders are a different measure: in the 2024 draft year, about 24,000 initial orders produced 798 enlistees (IDI, January 2026).
Haredi men drafted into the IDF in each twelve-month period ending in July, from IDF data.
Source: IDF figures via Times of Israel, July 29, 2026. The cohort row is the Jerusalem Post's estimate. IDI gives different figures for the same years: about 1,200 a year for most of the pre-war decade, 1,700 for 2023–24 and 2,940 for 2024–25 (idi.org.il). A different, much smaller measure is the response to draft orders: in the 2024 draft year, about 24,000 initial orders produced 798 enlistees (IDI, January 2026, idi.org.il)
The two sides argue in different terms. Supporters of drafting Haredim speak of an equal burden; the court wrote that "in the midst of a severe war, the burden of inequality is more acute than ever" (Times of Israel, June 2024). Haredi leaders speak of Torah study as "the spiritual defense of the People of Israel" and of the state's Jewish identity (Times of Israel, April 2026). In September 2026, rallies welcomed about 160 men released from military prison; gift bags handed to children read "The welcoming ceremony for prisoners of the Torah" (Ynet, September 2026).
No sanction will stop the voice of the Torah.
The government's answer was the Bismuth bill, presented in November 2025. Its sponsors call it a draft law; critics call it an exemption bill. It set targets of 6,840 to 8,500 enlistees a year for four years, then "no less than 50 percent of the annual enlistment cohort", while letting full-time yeshiva students keep yearly deferrals to age 26 (Times of Israel, November 2025). IDI wrote that the October outline "does not establish an equal obligation for conscription" (IDI, October 2025). The bill was shelved in March 2026, during the war with Iran (VIN News, May 2026).
The draft split the coalition in its last year. Both factions of United Torah Judaism left the government over the stalled law in July 2025 (Times of Israel, July 2025), and the Knesset dissolved in July 2026, setting the vote for October 27. The Knesset was near the end of its four-year term anyway: the outgoing coalition "became the first Israeli government in decades to complete a full four-year term" (JNS, July 2026). Money is part of the fight: after the 2024 ruling, NIS 480 million a year in yeshiva funding was revoked (IDI, June 2025); the wider question of coalition money for sectoral institutions is on the economy page.
What Israelis think
Among non-Haredi Jews, support for drafting Haredim rose from 67% in January 2024 to 84.5% in November 2024, and among national-religious respondents it doubled, from 36.5% to 72.5% (IDI, December 2024). In the same survey, 74.5% of Likud voters and 79% of Religious Zionism voters supported it (Times of Israel, December 2024). Haredim were the exception: 61% wanted the current exemption kept and 20% supported some form of enlistment (IDI, December 2024).
The burden behind that shift shows in reserve service. In 2025, 4.3% of religious men aged 21–44 were on reserve duty in an average month, against 1.7% of secular men and 0.3% of Haredi men (IDI, August 2026).
Share of men aged 21–44 in reserve service in an average month, by self-defined religiosity.
| Group | Oct–Dec 2023 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Religious | 15.2% | 4.3% |
| Traditional | 11.2% | 2.6% |
| Secular | 11.2% | 1.7% |
| Haredi | not given | 0.3% |
Strongest shade: 20%. Source: Israel Democracy Institute (Finkelstein and Portal), from the CBS Labor Force Survey, August 20, 2026. "Religious" is the CBS self-definition, close to but not the same as national-religious. The figures are monthly rates, not headcounts
Agreement that Haredim should serve splits on who and how. In November 2025, Jewish Israelis divided between drafting everyone except outstanding yeshiva students (49.5%) and drafting only those not really studying (31%); about 75% of Haredim preferred the current system (IDI, November 2025).
"The most appropriate solution to the issue of drafting Haredim," asked after the end of the war.
Draft all except outstanding yeshiva studentsDraft only those not really studyingKeep the current voluntary system
- Jewish Israelis
- Palestinian citizens of Israel
The numbers: The most appropriate solution to drafting Haredim, November 2025
| Respondents | Draft all except outstanding yeshiva students | Draft only those not really studying | Keep the current voluntary system |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jewish Israelis | 49.5% | 31% | 15% |
| Palestinian citizens of Israel | 26% | 23% | 35% |
Source: Israel Democracy Institute, November 2–6, 2025, 604 Jewish and 152 Arab respondents. IDI's label for the second group is "Arabs"; Druze are not reported separately in this result. About 75% of Haredi respondents chose the current system. IDI found the results "very similar" to September 2025
In July 2026, 46% of all Israelis said more pressure should be applied to enlist Haredi men, 31% conscription only with the agreement of Haredi leaders, and 11% called the effort futile. Likud voters preferred agreement, 75%; center and left voters preferred sanctions, 73% and 79%. Among Haredim, 45% chose agreement and 15% sanctions (JPPI via Jerusalem Post, July 2026). JPPI's published write-ups do not give the sample size. Questions differ across surveys: in June 2025, 41% of Jews chose universal conscription when offered several models, while 89% wanted the status quo changed (INSS, June 2025).
The issue moves some votes: 13.7% of Jews named a party's position on conscription as the biggest influence on their vote (IDI, September 2026).
What the parties say
Most parties answered Ynet's September 2026 questionnaire on the draft; Likud declined. The two Haredi parties gave different answers on yeshiva dropouts.
Should Haredi yeshiva students be drafted?
No compulsory service for anyone7.7 seats
Joint List7.7 seats
Ynet reports that it opposes drafting Haredi men or any form of compulsory enlistment. The party: "sanctions should not be imposed on someone who chooses not to enlist."
Ynet, Sep 16, 2026
Exempt those who study Torah7.6 seats
Draft those who leave yeshiva7.6 seats
Shas7.6 seats
Ynet's summary of its answer: "Shas acknowledges that it will no longer be possible to avoid drafting yeshiva students who have left their studies."
Ynet, Sep 16, 2026
Avi Maoz voted for the July 2026 law freezing arrests of yeshiva students who did not report, calling it "a bandage before the elections." His position: "Whoever studies should continue studying, and whoever does not study should enlist and share with us the great commandment of defending the homeland" (translated).
Channel 14, Jul 14, 2026. On the record, because the party did not answer the questionnaire
Raise Haredi service step by step35.2 seats
Likud22.1 seats
"Likud chose not to respond to inquiries from ynet and Yedioth Ahronoth regarding the draft law." In July 2025, Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi said the coalition was "fighting here for a historic conscription law that will conscript about 17,000 young Haredi men within three years."
Ynet, Sep 16, 2026; Times of Israel, Jul 23, 2025, Sep 16, 2026. On the record, because the party did not answer the questionnaire
Religious Zionism–Zehut5.7 seats
"Passing a Basic Law for Service Members under the principle of 'first in equality' — those who serve receive everything." Supports "expanding the pool of those who serve"; did not answer the question on sanctions.
Ynet, Sep 16, 2026
Otzma Yehudit7.4 seats
Party leader Ben-Gvir: "We opened dedicated tracks in the police and Border Police, with full observance of Shabbat, kashrut, prayers and Torah study, appropriate gender separation and the establishment of the ultra-Orthodox 'Avnet' company in the Border Police."
Ynet, Sep 16, 2026
Draft everyone, military or civilian57.1 seats
People of Israel4.2 seats
Party leader Winter: "We will not join a government that does not pass, before it is formed, a law that puts an end to draft evasion and requires everyone to report for service… Full stop."
Jerusalem Post, Sep 2, 2026
Yashar!21.0 seats
National service for all; the "only mechanism for deferring service will be an allocation of up to 3% of each annual cohort for outstanding individuals." Eisenkot puts that at about 2,200 a year of a 70,000-person national cohort (all Israelis, not Haredim only), and would "revoke any state incentives granted to those who evade service."
Ynet, Sep 16, 2026; Jerusalem Post, Sep 24, 2026, Sep 24, 2026
B'Yachad10.6 seats
"Every citizen… will enlist in the IDF or perform national civilian service… without exemptions — that applies to Arabs and to the ultra-Orthodox alike."
Ynet, Sep 16, 2026
The Democrats9.0 seats
"The obligation to serve the state should apply to all citizens, within a national and equal framework."
Ynet, Sep 16, 2026
Yisrael Beiteinu8.2 seats
"Every young man and woman at age 18 — Jews, Muslims, Christians, Druze and Circassians — will be required to perform military or civilian service. No exemptions, no quotas and no deals."
Ynet, Sep 16, 2026
Reservists–Economic4.1 seats
"Every citizen will report to the induction center." Those who do not serve would face "revocation of a driver's license, a ban on leaving the country, exclusion from public-sector and government jobs," and loss of tax, housing and daycare benefits.
Ynet, Sep 16, 2026
"A service framework for all: every young man and woman will serve the state," Haredim, Arabs, Druze, religious and secular. The framework must pass "before the government is formed as a condition for its swearing-in"; quotas replace targets, so "only outstanding individuals will receive exemptions"; benefits go first to those who serve (translated).
Ynet (Hebrew), Sep 16, 2026
Declined, or no position in these sources
Ra'am4.8 seatsDeclined to answer
Ynet reports that it opposes a draft law that would require young Arab citizens to serve in the IDF or perform civilian service, and that it declined to respond on Haredi enlistment, although three Ra'am MKs voted in January 2022, inside the Bennett–Lapid coalition, for a draft law with annual Haredi enlistment targets. That coalition vote sets no current stance.
Ynet, Sep 16, 2026
Party answers to Ynet's September 2026 questionnaire unless another source is given. Likud declined the questionnaire; its stance comes from a minister's description of the coalition's 2025 bill. Ra'am answered only on drafting Arab citizens. Blue and White's row is from Ynet's Hebrew report of the same questionnaire. Noam's row is its leader's statement in the Knesset in July 2026.
Misreadings
It is not a church-state fight. An American reader may hear "religious exemption" and think of the First Amendment. The Israeli complaint is that one group does not carry a duty almost everyone else carries. National-religious Israelis, the most observant Zionists, became among the strongest supporters of drafting Haredim during 2024 (IDI, December 2024), and religious men carry the highest reserve load (IDI, August 2026).
Haredim do serve, in growing numbers. At least 4,000 enlisted in 2025–26, more than double the pre-war level (Times of Israel, July 2026), though that is "only slightly more than one-quarter of the estimated 14,000 haredim who reach draft age each year" (Jerusalem Post, July 2026). Few of the men who received draft orders reported: in the 2025 draft year, 701 of 15,938 whose dates had passed (IDI, January 2026).
The Haredi parties are not one bloc. Shas accepted that dropouts can no longer be exempt; United Torah Judaism opposed drafting them (Ynet, September 2026). Only 28% of Haredim give their political leadership high marks (IDI, August 2026). More on the community is on Haredim.
The draft does not divide right from left. People of Israel, which still recommends Netanyahu, will not join a government that has not passed a draft law (Jerusalem Post, September 2026); Yisrael Beiteinu wants "no exemptions, no quotas and no deals" (Ynet, September 2026). Likud voters back drafting Haredim but prefer to do it by agreement (JPPI via Jerusalem Post, July 2026).
The election was not called months early. The draft ended the coalition, but only after it had become "the first Israeli government in decades to complete a full four-year term" (JNS, July 2026).
American communities are part of the story. When the 2024 funding cut took effect, Rabbi Dov Landau, a dean of the Slabodka Yeshiva in Bnei Brak, "directly appealed to Haredim in the United States" for help, the Walla news site reported (Times of Israel, April 2024).