{"id":117034,"date":"2024-11-14T17:05:13","date_gmt":"2024-11-14T15:05:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=117034"},"modified":"2024-11-14T15:35:17","modified_gmt":"2024-11-14T13:35:17","slug":"14-05-113","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=117034","title":{"rendered":"The IDF\u2019s New Recruits"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>The IDF\u2019s New Recruits<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/h5>\n


\nHillel Kuttler<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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As small but growing numbers of Haredi men enlist in the Israeli military, attitudes in their strictly observant communities start to shift<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n

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\nFormer Defense Minister Yoav Galant visits Haim Traitel at Soroka Medical Center \/ Courtesy Office of the Defense Minister<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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Haim Traitel reclined in bed in a third-floor room at Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba on a late-October afternoon. During a two-hour interview, he discussed the battle injury he suffered the previous week in the Gaza Strip, his service in the Israel Defense Forces, and his motivation for enlisting.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Traitel spoke on the record and OK\u2019d his photo appearing with this story. But he declined to name the specific Hasidic sect to which he and his family belong, beyond saying that it\u2019s an \u201cimportant\u201d group in the Haredi-majority town of Bnai Brak, where he lives with his parents, brother, and sisters.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The 19-year-old sergeant plans to return to his unit after recuperating. Haim\u2019s father, Moshe, plans to host a\u00a0seudat hodaya<\/em>, a thanksgiving feast\u2014a traditional celebration after someone survives a life-threatening circumstance\u2014and expects no problem in renting a hall for the occasion, but he\u2019s sure the community\u2019s leadership won\u2019t attend.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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That\u2019s because military service is not encouraged where they live, Moshe told me while visiting his son the same day. For that reason, Haim added, he\u2019s sure he won\u2019t be asked to speak about his Gaza experiences at the family\u2019s synagogue or the schools he attended.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Haim grew up knowing little about life beyond Bnai Brak, a city of more than 200,000 bordering Tel Aviv. He attended yeshiva, but wasn\u2019t studious. He secretly bought a smartphone\u2014Moshe, himself holding a smartphone during our interview, smiled at his son\u2019s daring\u2014and went online to learn about politics and national affairs. He read about the IDF and watched videos of soldiers\u2019 exploits.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI saw heroes with weapons,\u201d said Haim. \u201cIt fires you up. When there was a terrorist attack, I\u2019d say, \u2018I\u2019m enlisting.\u2019 When there wasn\u2019t, I didn\u2019t. It hurt me that I wasn\u2019t taking part in the [country\u2019s] defense.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Haim was fortunate to receive his parents\u2019 support, and their hugs, when he announced at age 17 his intention to join the IDF. They attended the ceremonies when he was sworn in and completed basic training.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The reality of life for an IDF soldier from Bnai Brak, as in many Haredi (strictly observant) communities, is complex, even after Haim nearly was killed in Jabalia by a Hamas sniper\u2019s bullet from behind that tore a muscle, exited his left shin, required seven stitches, and necessitated a monthslong rehabilitation.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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And their community, Moshe and Haim explained, is\u2014on the Haredi spectrum\u2014relatively liberal.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cIs the blood of Haredim worth more?\u201d reads a sign hanging from an overpass on Highway 7, east of Ashdod.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The question was jarring and ironic, given that I passed it while driving to meet this Haredi teenager who nearly was killed defending Israel.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The message apparently was painted by a secular Jewish Israeli upset by Haredim not sharing the burden of military service\u2014specifically, fighting in the ongoing wars in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon that, as of Nov. 5, have taken the lives of 780 Israeli soldiers and other security personnel. Israeli governments since 1948 have allowed Haredim to study full time in yeshivot and skip IDF service that\u2019s otherwise mandatory for Jews and\u00a0Druze<\/a>. But many Israelis have long resented what they see as Haredi abuse of the system to also exempt those not studying Torah full time.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThe sign is very, very painful,\u201d Traitel said when I told him of it. \u201cI understand the pain. There are not many like me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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An IDF spokeswoman said figures aren\u2019t available on how many Haredim are serving in the military. Experts estimate the number in the low thousands, minuscule in a population of 1.3 million Haredim.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The simmering social pot has been boiling over the past six months due to the long stretches, some more than a year, served by IDF reservists in the ongoing wars against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. The renewed friction led the Supreme Court to rule in July that authority for the exemptions had lapsed and that draft notices must be sent to approximately 60,000 Haredi men. Three thousand notices went out\u2014Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced last week, before he was fired from his post, that 7,000 more would be sent\u2014but only a fraction of those summoned showed up at induction centers.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Anti-draft demonstrations continue to be held in Haredi areas. And last week, Haredi members of Knesset were threatening to withhold their votes for a national budget if a draft-exemption bill isn\u2019t passed.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The issue continues to anger\u2014and not only secular Jewish Israelis are venting. Resentment has come recently from the religious-Zionist (akin to modern Orthodox in the United States) camp, usually among Israel\u2019s most unity-preaching sectors.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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One such member, Rachel Goldberg, spoke emotionally during the shiva for her husband and the father of the couple\u2019s eight children, Avi, killed in battle in Lebanon on Oct. 26.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Israel is at war \u201cagainst accursed enemies, and many people wear green uniforms and join to fight in God\u2019s army, the IDF, but we don\u2019t have enough people,\u201d Goldberg said in a video clip posted on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>. \u201cI want to call on people learning Torah and not serving in the military to enlist in the Jewish people\u2019s military.\u201d She drew a parallel with pre-Shabbat preparations: \u201cIt\u2019s not that one person sits at the table, praying that the house will be clean. Everyone must clean. Everyone must stand and act and exert one\u2019s body. And whoever doesn\u2019t\u2014it\u2019s not educational, not Jewish, not moral to give him something,\u201d Goldberg said, referring to governmental subsidies for yeshiva students.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Rabbi Menachem Bombach, whose organization, Netzach, runs Haredi schools teaching secular subjects alongside Judaic studies, said in a phone interview: \u201cThere is an ethical and moral price for not participating in defending the Jewish state. \u2026 If this is your way, it is very selfish.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Bombach served in the IDF, as did his son. \u201cThere\u2019s now an awakening,\u201d Bombach said of Haredim, of which he is one. \u201cIt\u2019s not enough, but it\u2019s a change.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The social tension comes as Haredi opposition to IDF service appears to be softening, at least in the short term, due in part to Hamas\u2019 Oct. 7, 2023, murderous rampage across the western Negev that stirred Haredim emotionally. That\u2019s the view of several community members interviewed for this article, including one who mentioned Haredim murdered that day. Haredim have visited those recovering from the attacks and soldiers wounded in battle, cooked for deployed soldiers, and donated needed products. Some interviewees reported Psalms and other prayers now being recited in their synagogues for the IDF\u2019s success and for wounded soldiers\u2019 recovery.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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From there, they said, it\u2019s less of a leap to Haredi men enlisting and to community members accepting their decisions to do so. But anything approaching broad Haredi enlistment \u201cwill take two or three generations,\u201d said Dov Lipman, a U.S.-raised former Knesset member who is Haredi and whose son served in the IDF.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Tel Aviv University professor Nechumi Yaffe said she detects Haredi attitudes toward military service changing.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Yaffe and colleague Yael Itzhaki-Braun polled approximately 1,000 Haredim throughout Israel after Russia launched its war against Ukraine in February 2022, then following Hamas\u2019 Oct. 7 massacre, and then at points throughout the ensuing wars in Gaza and Lebanon.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The researchers asked whether the Haredi public must find a way to contribute to Israel\u2019s defense, and found that affirmative answers jumped from 42% to 63% following the massacre. On whether the respondent personally should contribute to Israel\u2019s military effort, the increase was higher over the same period: from 35% to 58%.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThe stigma [against] people who have served has significantly lowered,\u201d said Yaffe, who is Haredi.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Still, negotiations and court rulings on compulsory military service have not considered any roles for Haredi women. (Druze and non-Haredi Jewish women, particularly in their observant communities, can perform national service, such as in schools or hospitals, in lieu of the military. Otherwise, Jewish women, like Jewish and Druze men, are subject to the draft.)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Anecdotal evidence of change, at least for Haredi men, abounds.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Haredi soldiers were known to change into civvies before returning on weekend leave, lest they face scorn or worse in their neighborhoods. That seems to be changing.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cThey\u2019re much less concerned about that post-Oct. 7,\u201d said Karmi Gross, a Miami-raised rabbi in Ramat Beit Shemesh, who founded a program for Haredim that combines military service with both Torah learning and an academic program leading to a professional degree. The program is modeled after the\u00a0hesder<\/em>\u00a0track for religious-Zionist youth, which entails Torah study and military training.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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During the recent holiday period, one of Gross\u2019 students told him of entering his synagogue for Mincha prayers in uniform.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cHalf of the men started yelling at him to leave the shul. It\u2019s very normal,\u201d said Gross. \u201cFor the first time, another group\u2014at least half\u2014started yelling back to say, \u2018Leave him alone.\u2019 It\u2019s very significant. Army service does not make you a leper anymore. A lot of that, I think, is the Oct. 7 effect. Once that wall falls, time will have its [further] effect. Are you going to see massive numbers [of recruits] coming? No. That will take time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Several interviewees remarked that the IDF now faces a golden opportunity to foster greater Haredi enlistment by enticing, not compelling; by reaching out to teenagers less drawn to yeshiva study; and by meeting the religious-observance needs of Haredim, such as their preferred kashrut for food, dedicated times for Torah study and prayers, and not having males serve with females\u2014needs the IDF has made great efforts to meet since the 1990s in its all-Haredi units, including the three now operating within the paratrooper, Kfir, and Givati brigades. A full-fledged Haredi brigade, Hasmoneans, is due to launch in December.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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But the military environment makes it \u201cinevitable\u201d that religious observance will be compromised, said Yitzchok Horowitz, 26, who served in the Haredi paratrooper unit.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Horowitz, raised in the Haredi neighborhood of Har Nof in Jerusalem, said he sees the sense in not forcing the issue: \u201cThe Haredi community, me included, believes that, yes, [Haredim] should sit and learn [Torah] because these people are protecting the Holy Land in a different way.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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A promising conduit to normalizing IDF service for the Haredi sector might be the track known as Phase 2. Revived by the IDF during this wartime period, it enables Haredi men who passed draft age to enlist, undergo two or four weeks of basic training, and serve in combat or noncombat roles. It requires the person to make a five-year commitment of annual reserve duty.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Phase 2 is \u201can opportunity we must take advantage of, to bring about a breakthrough, to show that Haredim are entering the military\u2014and then youth will enlist,\u201d said Eliezer Safrin, a 44-year-old real estate developer in Beit Shemesh who entered the program in August after six months of pressing the IDF to accept him. \u201cIt definitely gives a big sense of satisfaction and belonging, and a feeling of: \u2018Why didn\u2019t I do it earlier when I could\u2019ve contributed more?\u2019 If it weren\u2019t for the war, it may not have crossed my mind.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The track holds promise because participants are older and life-seasoned, less prone to social pressures against enlistment.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cIf you draft at 18, they look at you askance. But if you enlist with a wife and family, it\u2019s more accepted. They judge you less,\u201d said David Klaristenfeld, 35, a married father of two and owner of an air conditioning repair business in Ramat Beit Shemesh.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Klaristenfeld had wanted to serve in the IDF in his youth but said he \u201ccouldn\u2019t do it\u201d due to his Haredi surroundings. Then came the Oct. 7 invasion and the gruesome videos he watched of Hamas slaughtering Israelis. \u201cThis was the chance,\u201d he said. \u201cI jumped at the opportunity.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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He enlisted, trained for two weeks, served for three months in the military forensics center, then patrolled along Israel\u2019s border with Jordan. When Israeli pilots bombed military sites in Iran in late October, Klaristenfeld didn\u2019t hesitate when his commander summoned him\u2014on Shabbat morning\u2014in preparation for a potential Iranian counterattack. \u201cI have secular clients,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen I say I\u2019ve just returned from reserve duty, they\u2019re in shock. It\u2019s a form of sanctifying God\u2019s name.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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As for Traitel, he aspires, post-army, to study law or political science. Then, he said, he wants to work in the public sphere. \u201cI can be the connection,\u201d he said, \u201cbetween the Haredi community and general society, to promote Haredi enlistment.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Hillel Kuttler,<\/strong> a writer and editor, can be reached at\u00a0hk@HillelTheScribeCommunications.com.<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The IDF\u2019s New Recruits Hillel Kuttler As small but growing numbers of Haredi men enlist in the Israeli military, attitudes in their strictly observant communities start to shift . Former Defense Minister Yoav Galant visits Haim Traitel at Soroka Medical Center \/ Courtesy Office of the Defense Minister Haim Traitel reclined in bed in a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[26,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117034"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=117034"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117034\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":117043,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117034\/revisions\/117043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=117034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=117034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=117034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}