Israel sends draft orders to more ultra-Orthodox amid war on Gaza, Lebanon

Israel has issued call-up notices to more members of the ultra-Orthodox community to bolster its forces as its military runs short of thousands of troops amid the regime's relentless aggression against Gaza and Lebanon. 

Israel’s ministry of war affairs has said at least 7,000 members of the community would gradually receive notices, starting on Sunday.

A statement from the ministry said it would work with community heads to ensure ultra-Orthodox soldiers could preserve their religious lifestyles while enlisted in the military.

Israel’s public broadcaster Kan reported Sunday that some rabbis were urging those who received notices to refuse.

Israel’s chief rabbi Yitzhak Yosef has already warned that ultra-Orthodox Jews (Haredim in Hebrew) will leave the occupied territories en masse if the regime ends the community’s exemptions from mandatory military enlistment and forces them to join the occupation army.

The new policy shift has also been opposed by the two religious parties in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s regime, placing severe strains on the right-wing coalition.

The young men of the Haredim are in all practical terms exempt from mandatory military service.

According to the Israeli military, over the past year some 66,000 young men from the ultra-Orthodox community, the fastest-growing sector of the population, received an exemption from military service.

As per new Israeli policy, the community is forced into military conscription, meaning they must serve in the occupation army - or else will serve time in jail.

Israel says needs 10,000 forces as it remains mired in Gaza war

The regime

In July, the military called up 1,000 ultra-Orthodox men after it faced increasing pressure from Israeli reservists to draft ultra-Orthodox members.

A  top Israeli court earlier ruled in June that the ministry could no longer grant blanket exemptions to Jewish seminary students from the conscript military.

A recent report in the Israeli outlet HaMakom said an increasing number of Israeli regime soldiers are silently refusing orders to return to the battlefield in the besieged Gaza Strip due in large part to the resistance put up by the Palestinian fighters.

Among mothers of soldiers, the phenomenon is called “silent refusal” or “gray refusal.”

Israel is dealing with the manpower issue at a time when its military faces the debacle in Gaza. The military has also failed to achieve its goals in a meaningful way in southern Lebanon.

Dozens of soldiers have been killed in recent days on both battlefronts.

Retired general: Israeli soldiers ‘disproportionately’ killed in Gaza

Itzhak Brik previously headed the educational unit of the military.

The Israeli military has published the names of over 750 troops killed since October 2023, including more than 350 who were killed on the ground in Gaza.

Over 100 troops have been killed and hundreds more injured in attacks along Lebanon’s border in recent weeks.

The Resistance front says the number of military fatalities the regime has suffered is much higher as it keeps the real figures under the lid.

Over the weekend, thousands of Israelis once again took to the streets in Tel Aviv, demanding a deal with the Hamas resistance movement for the release of Israeli captives in the blockaded Gaza Strip.

These rallies have been held for a year with protesters criticizing the Israeli regime’s refusal to agree to a ceasefire with Hamas. 

Many experts believe the Israeli premier is prolonging the war to save his own political career.

Silent crisis: Growing number of Israeli troops refuse to return to Gaza

Israeli soldiers say they are depressed, worn out, psychologically damaged and unmotivated.

Israel had seen mass protests against Netanyahu and his far-right cabinet way before the genocidal war on Gaza started in October 2023. The Israeli premier has faced multiple corruption charges.

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