Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid called on Sunday for the recruitment of ultra-Orthodox Jews into the Israeli army. Lapid threatened, "Those who do not enlist will not receive funds from the state," adding that "the Haredim of conscription age are exactly what the army currently lacks and should be recruited." Lapid’s comments came after Chief Rabbi of Israel Yitzhak Yosef threatened that "if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government forces us to enlist, we will all leave the country."
It is worth noting that approximately 66,000 young people from the "Haredi" community received exemptions from military service last year, a record number, especially amid the ongoing war situation in Israel and the multiple fronts it is dealing with. Since 2017, successive Israeli governments have failed to reach a consensus on a law for the conscription of religious Jews (Haredim) after the Supreme Court annulled the 2015 law that legalized their exemption from military service, reasoning that the exemption infringes on "the principle of equality."
