Israeli draft

IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir has a duty to warn the government about draft evasion - editorial

Active-duty generals, as a rule, should stay out of politics, but every rule has its exception.

|ByJPOST EDITORIAL
Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, Eyal Zamir, arrives to attend a wreath laying ceremony at Warsaw Ghetto Square at Yad Vashem on April 14, 2026 in Jerusalem, Israel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a Knesset vote on a bill to freeze arrests of haredi draft evaders, in Jerusalem, July 14, 2026

Knesset votes to freeze arrests of ultra-Orthodox draft evaders amid IDF manpower crisis

Bill passes 58-54 despite legal warnings, IDF opposition • Netanyahu heckled by opposition lawmakers shouting 'disgrace' before leaving plenum ahead of the vote

|ByKESHET NEEV
A haredi (ultra-Orthodox) protester argues with a police officer outside the Jerusalem IDF recruitment center, April 12, 2026.

Almost half of Israelis support tougher sanctions, pressure to promote haredi conscription - poll

Approximately 31% support conscription only in agreement with Haredi leadership, and 11% believe that efforts to draft Haredi men are futile and should stop.

|ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
An Israeli soldier guard as young men gathered during a demonstration by Ultra-Orthodox Jews against Israel's military draft on June 17, 2026 outside the Beit Lid military base in Kfar Yona, Israel. The conscription of young ultra-Orthodox men into the military, from which they were long exempt.

Likud MK Kallner opposes criminal arrests for haredi draft evaders, backs economic sanctions

Kallner, a member of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, told 103FM that he does not think arresting yeshiva students is 'the right way.'

|By103FM

IDF cuts male soldiers service from 36 to 32 months

Cut makes up gap in manpower to change face of the army.

JULY 6, 2015ByYONAH JEREMY BOB, SHANA MEDEL
An IDF soldier takes part in drills on the Golan Heights

To promote integration, IDF shuts down Druse battalion

IDF source: "Our wish is to fulfill the wants of Druse youths, who clearly want to integrate into the wider IDF, and not be in their own battalion,"

MAY 18, 2015ByYAAKOV LAPPIN
Herev Battalion

Bill barring draft-dodgers from getting scholarships heads to final vote

Any university student who did not serve in the IDF or national service and did not receive an exemption from service will have to pay full tuition.

OCTOBER 30, 2014ByLAHAV HARKOV
ULTRA-ORTHODOX MEN walk past soldiers at the Kotel in Jerusalem