The Haredi draft has been a hot potato for many years that many have tried to avoid. Over the years, the Haredi have made sure that the current situation does not change, but it has also been convenient for decision-makers in the secular public - mainly for political reasons - to allow every Haredi to defer the draft.
From time to time, initiatives have emerged that attempted to increase the quota of ultra-Orthodox enlistments, but most of them have failed miserably.
Over the years, it can be said that the Haredi public has achieved its goal: apart from a few on the fringes, who occasionally tried to wake up the sleeping secular bear, most of the secular public grew tired time and time again when they began to talk about the worn-out topic.
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Until the Iron Sword War came... The current war managed to let all the demons out of the bottle.
Since always, in times of war, and especially when soldiers fall in battle, the question arises: Why don't the Haredim bear the burden? - But with the end of the war, the world continues as usual.
I have friends who reassure me. This time too, they say, after the war everything will return to its place in peace. But as someone who reads and smells the terrain – it seems that this time it is different.
Even the Haredi sector, which has become closer to the Haredi public in recent years, is no longer willing to remain silent. As a public that is paying heavy prices in the current war, they feel obligated to begin making changes to the procedure that dismisses Haredim from the IDF.
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Let's put things on the table: No one in the country thinks that the Haredim can be mobilized by force. Even the High Court, which is currently discussing the issue, will not really be able to move the matter one millimeter. Change must come from within the Haredi public.
Let's break it down: The Haredi yeshiva students can be divided into five groups. There are those who devote themselves entirely to studying Torah; there are those who study half, third, and quarter of the time; there are those who are careful to observe the scripture "and visit His temple"; there are those who do manual labor but also "work the system" and are registered in the yeshiva, just to escape the terror of the army; and there are the "dropout youth" who have forgotten which side they entered the yeshiva from, but are still registered as full-fledged yeshiva students.
No one even tries to recruit those who study and devote their lives to Torah. The bulk of the debate and allegations are about those who study half a clutch or less.
As an ultra-Orthodox, my personal opinion is that in the current situation it is difficult to take a young man who is in a yeshiva and throw him into the "Israeli melting pot," even if he is not functioning fully and continuously in the yeshiva. There are several reasons for this, but the main one is because it is difficult to sacrifice a young man on the altar of the army, without the army being prepared and ready to absorb him, according to his worldview.
All the explanations and chatter from the army about pathways for the ultra-Orthodox will not help. Right now, reality proves - even among the religious public - that a young man's departure from the army is not the same as his arrival.
I'm talking about those young men who haven't tasted yeshiva for months and years. As someone who takes care of dropout Haredi youth in Ashdod, I've often met young men who work from morning until night, without even thinking about the army. But the feeling that someone else will do the work in the army for them is immoral and wrong. Not to mention the fact that the lack of a framework causes them to harm themselves and their environment.
Let's start with them: There is no point in not encouraging those hundreds (and thousands) of young men to get under the military stretcher after they have shed the military stretcher themselves.
But at the same time, we must not neglect the military frameworks and leave them as they are. We must open our eyes and open IDF frameworks that are adapted to the Haredi lifestyle who does not study at all. Turning a blind eye to the matter causes many of those who join the army to be swept away into the fiery Israeli melting pot and completely lose their way of life.
And in general, in a few decades, the Haredi public will grow to the point where it will be forced to occupy key positions in the country, including in the army. If we don't start changing things now, along the way we will lose both legitimacy and the young men who are supposed to be conscripted by law.
After we change and adapt the army to every Haredi who cannot study, but wants to lead a true Haredi lifestyle even in the army, it seems that the devil is not so terrible.
And if we're honest for a moment, it seems that even the secular public and the heads of the army haven't yet realized that change must come from their side. And perhaps they really have no desire to change the army and adapt it to the haredi public, and so I fear that we will be stuck with the current situation for many years to come.
