1.
A kollel avrech, soon to be 27, who was a few weeks short of turning 26 when the conscription law expired in June 2023, was therefore included on the list of avrechs who are required to be drafted. Following the High Court of Justice's decision, for the past three months he has not been eligible to receive the Ministry of Religious Affairs scholarship of several hundred shekels.
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This concerns approximately 63,000 young Haredi men who have been on standby since April 1, 2024 - while on the one hand, the IDF is not taking any steps to conscript them - or alternatively exempt them from military service. On the other hand, due to the High Court ruling, the avrechim have ceased to receive the 'religious scholarship' and the yeshivahs do not receive budgets for students who are required to conscript.
About three weeks ago he called I called the KKO to inquire about his status - and was told: "You are not invited to anything.".
Here is the transcript of the conversation that took place with the soldier at the call center:
Soldier: How can I help?
The Abraach: I want to find out what my status is.
Soldier: What does that mean?
The man: Do I have an exemption? Don't I have an exemption? What...?
Soldier: Right now you have no exemption, the conscription law has been repealed and we are all obligated to conscript. Unless there is a different decision.
The old man: Okay, what should I do?
Soldier: Right now you have to wait for them to summon you for the first order. Or for other procedures. For recruitment procedures.
Abraha: Why don't you come to join the army now?
Soldier: You don't have a draft date yet, so it's like...
Havrach: No, I'll tell you why. Because I followed the High Court hearing and it was as if they said I had to physically come to you and enlist.
Soldier: Once you're qualified for a profile classification or a first order or something like that, then it will be possible. Right now you're not qualified for anything yet.
Abraach: They didn't issue me a summons, right?
Soldier: Not yet.
2.
Yesterday, after the decision of 9 High Court judges, Havrach read the decision thoroughly - and found the following passage:
""Before concluding, we will briefly address the claim raised by the Yeshiva Directors' Association, according to which it is impossible to prevent a situation in which an educational institution would not be able to receive support for a yeshiva student even though he wishes to enlist, since the military authorities are not at all prepared at this time to enlist all yeshiva students. This claim was made in general and in passing, without bringing up the case of an individual student who wished to enlist, was answered negatively, and the institution where he studied sought to receive support for him.
""It is clear that if a particular student requests to enlist in the army but the army rejects his request, the institution has the option of contacting the Ministry of Education with an appropriate request. The decision of the Ministry of Education will of course be subject to judicial review, and the above does not constitute taking a position on the merits of the matter.".
3.
During the discussion, the argument was repeated - what is the fault of the young Haredi? If the army did not contact him, why is his support being withdrawn?
The judges replied, repeating themselves over and over again, that every Haredi must come to the KKOM, even if he is not called to do so, undergo medical examinations, and then - if they send him a summons to appear, he must do so.
It reads: "A person who is subject to a deferral order under Section 3136, Section 22B or Chapter 3, 1 and is not called to report at another time for registration, medical examination, security service, or continuation of service must report to fulfill his duty at the end of the deferral period, but his service will begin on the date ordered by the person issuing the order.".
4.
Remember the soldier who told the soldier that he didn't have to report to the KOM? After reviewing the judges' decision, the soldier called again today.
And this is how the conversation went:
The old man: I want to know what I should do.
Soldier: What does that mean?
The man: They sent me a warrant, they didn't send me a warrant...
Soldier: Wait...(typing) You'll get an update about your enlistment later. Okay?
The old man: But they told me I had to come...
Soldier: Were you told to report on a certain date?
Havrach: No, but I was told that once the yeshiva law expires, the law says that I have to come to you, physically - and then, if you want, you have to send me a warrant.
Soldier: Wait... Did someone call you or did you talk to us at the hotline?
Havrach: No, no, no, no one spoke to me, but that's what the High Court ruled yesterday. That I need to come to you physically, and then, if you want, you need to send me a warrant. That's what the judges said, so I'm calling to find out what I need to do.
Soldier: Wait... So, and I also see from the last conversation, they told you that right now you don't have to report.
Havrach: No, I was told that before yesterday's High Court.
Soldier: Right now you have to wait for some kind of formal summons to be sent to you, and after that you can come to the office.
The servant: I don't understand. I have no reason to come to you now?
Soldier: No, not right now. You have to wait for the summons.
Havrach: I don't understand. So why was all the budgets denied to me?
Soldier: We'll keep you updated on this, the law came out yesterday. We'll keep you updated, everything's fine.
The old man: But what should I do now?
Soldier: You are currently waiting for the order.
The Abraach: Am I okay right now? Am I breaking the law? Not breaking it?
Soldier: You need to wait for a formal order to be sent to you, after that you can report on the date they give you.
The old man: Okay, am I doing something wrong right now?
Soldier: No. Everything is fine. Right now everything is good.
The old man: Just a question, regardless. Do you see my age? Do you have it written down?
Soldier: Yes, I see you are 26 years old.
Havrach: Like, at some point is this supposed to be, is it for life like? How long am I supposed to wait for this order?
Soldier: Again, we don't have a specific date right now, formal orders are supposed to be issued in the coming days.
Abraha: And maybe they'll give me an exemption?
Soldier: We'll keep you updated on that, I don't handle it, I don't know how to tell you.
Abraha: Is there someone who is a therapist that I can contact?
Soldier: Again, right now the people who are handling this are handling the warrants, we will keep you updated on that. Right now you are just waiting.
The Abraham: I understand. But could there be an option for me to be exempt? Do you know of such a thing?
Soldier: I don't know how to tell you, the law was issued yesterday, right now we don't have any kind of organized guidance, the people working on it will update you.
The Abraha: And I have nothing to talk to other people about, there is no one to talk to.
Soldier: You need to wait for them to update you. They will either send you a formal order or they will send you some kind of update regarding your exemption.
Havrach: I understand. And this law that says that "anyone who does not have a deferment order must report at the end of the deferment period, but his service will begin on the date he was ordered to," isn't that true?
Soldier: Wait...wait a second, I'll check for you...(waits, then returns) Okay, like I told you, right now you don't need to report, you need to wait for a proper order to be sent to you.
The servant: I understand. And you don't know whether they will send it or not, right?
Soldier: Again, we'll update you on this later. They're supposed to issue you a proper order and we'll update you.
The Abraach: Oh, will they issue me a warrant?
Soldier: I see you did your first order. Right? I see you did report.
The Abraha: What is the first order? With the tests?
Soldier: Yes, it's basically those first summonses. Then I see that you had the status of a yeshiva student and you made delays.
The old man: That's right.
Soldier: But you made your first order in 2014. I see that you did stand up as a matter of principle.
The old man: Okay, what does that mean?
Soldier: So we'll update you about your enlistment later.
Abraach: I understand. Are they supposed to issue me a warrant or maybe not? Are you sure they will issue me one?
Soldier: Again, I don't handle this, you have to wait for some kind of order to be sent to you, and if not an order, then they will send you, in principle, some kind of update regarding whether you are exempt, enlisting, not enlisting, we will update you on this later.
The Abraha: But they will send me a letter regardless of my status?
Soldier: Yes, they will send it to you.
Abraach: Can you tell me more or less a time frame? A month, two months? A year, two years?
The soldier: Not something that we know of because a lot of letters are being sent out now, the times when they arrive are also the work of Israel Post, so we can't know exactly when they will arrive.
The Witness: And is there a way for you to find out what is written in the letter? Is there a way?
Soldier: Yes, through us, you can keep up to date.
Abraach: I understand, so do you know when the letters will be around?
Soldier: As a principle, they're being released now, but I don't know what processes exactly you'll have to go through. Like, it's not something we know about.
Abraha: Is it certain that I will have to report or not?
Soldier: We'll keep you updated on that, I told you that before.
Abraach: Maybe I won't have to show up?
Soldier: We will inform you about this. We will inform you about your recruitment process, you need to wait for an orderly letter from the army.
The Abraham: But can you tell me if it's possible that it's not? I just want to know what to do with my life...
Soldier: I don't know how to tell you. Maybe yes, maybe no. You have to wait for a formal letter from the army, we will inform you about it in the letter.
And so the phone call left the Abraach confused, as well as us. The Israel Defense Forces, the High Court, and in the end - an Abraach who doesn't really know what he should do. Wants to appear at the KKOM - he's told not to come, the High Court 'punishes' him for not appearing - and stops the meager 'religious scholarship' he received every month for studying around the clock.
IDF Spokesperson's Response: “The IDF is the people’s army and acts on a state-wide basis to recruit populations liable for conscription, in accordance with the Defense Service Law. The IDF has a wide range of service targets for the ultra-Orthodox and is currently preparing to expand the absorption of candidates for defense service who no longer hold a deferral of service.
“"A person designated for security service who does not have a valid order to defer service is required to report to the recruitment office in order to receive a summons to complete the processes and a subsequent recruitment date.".
