Haredim

A 14-year-old haredi boy was killed in Jerusalem, prompting statements from Prime Minister Netanyahu, President Herzog, and ministers calling for a thorough police investigation.

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.”

“I beg you, exempt them from everything,” United Torah Judaism chairperson Goldknopf told the panel, before seeming to refer to the yellow star that Nazi’s placed on Jews during the Holocaust.

The composition of our fragile coalition in the Knesset, mirrored in the cabinet, makes governing our already volatile population factions extremely difficult.

Soldiers tried to help the police disperse the rioters, but were forced to go back inside the bus violently. The police had to use stun grenades to disperse the rioting crowd.

A month of reservist service costs about NIS 38,000 ($11,700), while conscripting young Haredim is far cheaper and may even encourage them to join the workforce.

The continued discussions on the bill come after the chairperson of the committee, MK Boaz Bismuth (Likud), laid out his updated version of the legislation to the panel on Monday. 

Sofer, the first religious Zionist leader to publicly draw a red line on the draft bill, is making a choice to protect the "future of the IDF" over his own ministerial career.

Haredim should organize large prayer gatherings not for their own needs but for the well-being of all our soldiers and all Israelis.

The new haredi draft bill softens personal sanctions, allowing draft evaders to regularize their status around age 26. This flexibility draws sharp criticism from the opposition.

The incident unfolded amid heightened tensions in the ultra-Orthodox (haredi) community surrounding military-conscription legislation, which Shas supported.