Haredi enlistment to combat units jumps 30% as over 250 men join IDF in recent draft cycle

About 260 ultra-Orthodox men enlisted in the IDF on Tuesday, the first day of the latest combat recruitment cycle. The figure represents a roughly 30% increase from the equivalent recruitment day last year, when 198 ultra-Orthodox men joined.

It also exceeded the first-day total from the previous recruitment cycle, when 211 ultra-Orthodox recruits enlisted. More than 100 of the new recruits were assigned to the Netzah Yehuda Battalion, while more than 30 joined the Paratroopers Brigade, a level not seen in that track for some time.

Another 75 recruits entered the Hasmonean Brigade, the IDF’s ultra-Orthodox brigade. Defense officials expect that figure to rise in the coming days as additional recruits are placed in different units and service tracks.

Current assessments indicate that some of those tracks are likely to reach the recruitment targets set by Maj. Gen. Dado Bar Kalifa, head of the IDF Personnel Directorate. The figures come during continuing public and political debate over the enlistment of yeshiva students and efforts to increase ultra-Orthodox participation in combat service.