Whoever in their audacity works while their friends serve must face full sanctions
I was privileged to go through the path of ultra-Orthodox integration in the 'Netzah Yehuda' battalion myself; today I know that the army is not a threat to identity, but a process that can combine Torah and service. Those whose Torah is their craft should continue to study, but thousands who are not sitting in the Beit Midrash must serve.
The report on the government's decision to once again extend the validity of Order 8 for 240,000 reservists and to deepen the burden placed on a limited group of the population sharpens the gravity of the hour even more.
The issue of integrating ultra-Orthodox into the IDF is a complex subject that has accompanied the State of Israel throughout all 78 years of its existence without being solved coherently, and it is not certain that the country's leaders over the years truly desired a solution.
I was privileged to go through the central path for integrating ultra-Orthodox in the "Netzah Yehuda" battalion myself, which changed my life from one end to the other. Today I know that the army is not a threat to ultra-Orthodox identity, but a process that can combine Torah and army.
From this vast experience, I look at the stormy debate today, which tends to focus on mutual accusations and extreme solutions, while missing the essence. The ultra-Orthodox public is not the problem of the state's security, and it certainly cannot carry all the complex questions of Israeli society on its shoulders alone. However, as we see with our own eyes every day, the need for combat soldiers is no longer a political slogan, but a clear existential and security necessity.
In the National Association for the Integration of Ultra-Orthodox "Shomer Yisrael," our line was and remains clear:
Those whose Torah is their craft (Torato Omanuto) — let them continue to study. But thousands who are not sitting on the benches of the Beit Midrash must go out and serve. In my view, anyone who, in their audacity, works or studies in academia while their peers are serving, should absorb full economic restrictions and sanctions.
Preparatory programs and Hesder Yeshivas
To turn the vision into facts on the ground, we have established more than ten frameworks of pre-military preparatory programs and ultra-Orthodox Hesder Yeshivas. Today, more than a thousand students study there, and the goal is to reach 5,000 within three years.
Our preparatory programs are aimed exactly at the most critical problem of the IDF, the shortage of combat soldiers. Already two and a half years ago, we placed a comprehensive plan for the recruitment of ultra-Orthodox on the government's table, which creates a response that includes a broad support system for the young ultra-Orthodox, alongside focused placement for academia and employment on the day after. This is the only way to create a social revolution that will strengthen the IDF and the Israeli economy alike.
When the government adopts the plan we submitted to it, we will be able to double and triple the recruitment. On the other hand, if the state continues with the arrests of yeshiva students, this will be a severe blow to the effort to recruit ultra-Orthodox.
The state must act with all the tools at its disposal against those who do not study and do not enlist, and must take care of those who do enlist by creating conditions suitable for an ultra-Orthodox lifestyle.
This is how we will bring about the easing of the burden on the reservists and gain a stronger army and a society that will be wise, and not just righteous.
The author is a Lieutenant Colonel (res.), CEO of the National Association for the Integration of Ultra-Orthodox in the IDF "Shomer Yisrael"
