Haredi draft

‘Reaching the finish line’: Controversial haredi draft bill advances for Knesset committee vote

The controversial haredi conscription bill has moved one step closer to a vote in the Knesset after significant progress in the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

Protests against haredi draft in Jerusalem, October 30, 2025.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seen after the vote on the state budget at the assembly hall of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, January 28, 2026.

Knesset advances 2026 state budget in first reading amid coalition crisis over haredi draft

AN IDF reserve soldier reports for a military drill along the border with Lebanon and Syria.

Any solution but the obvious: Israel can't rely on aliyah to fill IDF manpower shortage - opinion

A PLENUM session at the Knesset.

2026 budget reading puts government at risk, after months of ideological sparring - analysis


IDF draft equality is minimum condition to restore Israeli solidarity - editorial

The Israel-Hamas War did not only take bodies; it took spirit. It took marriages, jobs, sleep, and the sense that someone competent is steering.

MK Boaz Bismuth seen with haredi MKs and Aliyah and Integration Minister Ofir Sofer in the Knesset, Jerusalem, January 14, 2026.

IDF cancels ultra-Orthodox Hashmonaim Brigade event for parents in Bnei Brak after haredi riot

The event was interrupted by a group of several dozen haredi extremists associated with the Jerusalem faction, who tried to break into the compound where the event was being held.

HAREDIM SCUFFLE with police outside Jerusalem’s IDF Recruitment Center, Nov. 12.

Netanyahu promised to advance death penalty bill before October 7, Ben-Gvir claims

Ben-Gvir also stated that the Attorney-General's call to dismiss him was his “greatest award.” “It shows I influenced, I led policy in the South, I changed the Prison Service,” he said.

 Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir at the annual Jerusalem Conference of the 'Besheva' group in Jerusalem, on February 21, 2023.

Court releases bus driver who fatally rammed haredi teen to three days of house arrest

At the end of the morning hearing, Judge Tamar Bar-Asher ordered the driver to be released after reviewing security footage from the scene.

the scene where a teenager was killed and three others were injured after being hit by a bus near rally against the recruitment of Ultra orthodox Jews to the IDF, in Jerusalem, January 6, 2026.

Ultra-Orthodox sages convene on haredi IDF draft bill, withhold official stance

The rabbis reportedly did not reach a decision on the matter; however, they allegedly decided internally to reject the sanctions imposed on draft evaders.

Rabbi Yaakov Aryeh Alter, head of the Gur hassidic dynasty,  seen after a meeting of the Council of Torah Sages regarding the haredi draft exemption bill in Jerusalem, January 7, 2026.

Millions transferred to haredi schools without Knesset approval, state admits to court

During the hearing, a state representative acknowledged that a significant portion of the funds had already been transferred prior to the Finance Committee discussion.

Opposition head Yair Lapid arrives for a court hearing at the Supreme Court on a petition against the transfer of funds to ultra-Orthodox educational institutions, January 8, 2026

Court extends detention of bus driver who rammed into ultra-Orthodox protesters

The court ordered the suspect held until January 15 to allow investigators to complete inquiries into the circumstances of the incident.

Signs from mass haredi protest against draft law in Jerusalem, January 6, 2026.

Bus driver rams into ultra-Orthodox protesters in Jerusalem, 14-year-old killed

Thousands of haredi (ultra-Orthodox) protesters gathered in Israel's capital on Tuesday evening • Driver arrested after killing one, injuring three others • Shas: "Haredi blood is not cheap."

Security and rescue forces are seen at the scene where a teenager was killed and three others were injured after being hit by a bus in Jerusalem, January 6, 2026

From yellow badges to ‘extermination ovens’: Toxic rhetoric of haredi draft protests - editorial

The latest affront occurred on Sunday when UTJ chairperson Yitzhak Goldknopf compared enforcing yeshiva students’ conscription to “placing a yellow badge on them.”

Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) protesters gather in Mea She'arim, Jerusalem, to celebrate draft dodgers' release from miiltary prison, November 30, 2025; illustrative.

IDF sees largest single-day haredi draft to date with over 530 new recruits, still far from goal

As the IDF struggles to hit haredi enlistment goals, the military announced that it is making efforts to “expand the scope of recruitment from among the haredi public.”

Maj.-Gen. Dado Bar Khalifa, head of the IDF’s Human Resources Department, addresses ultra-Orthodox recruits as they enlist in the military.