Yashar! Party leader Gadi Eisenkot said that it was necessary to come up with a “realistic plan” to draft haredim (ultra-Orthodox) into the military, ahead of the upcoming elections and amid the IDF’s severe manpower shortage.
“My approach has not changed: service for everyone. Even at the cost of additional elections,” Eisenkot said on Wednesday at the Kibbutz Leadership Conference.
The remarks came after recent criticism over Eisenkot’s stance on drafting haredim to the IDF from opposition party leaders, and amid reports that he held a private meeting with haredi Degel Hatorah leader MK Moshe Gafni last week.
Eisenkot had also been criticized for saying that he would sit in a government with “those who strengthen Israel” when asked about sitting in a coalition with the haredi parties earlier this month.
The Yashar! Party has emerged as a leading party in the opposition bloc seeking to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in elections set to take place no later than October 27.
Eisenkot explained that Israel needed to “come up with a realistic plan. We cannot accept the current reality [of] this morning, of 37,000 deserters and 45,000 draft evaders.”
He said that, according to his plan, 3% of each annual haredi cohort could be given the option to study Torah, noting that this was similar to exemptions given to outstanding musicians and athletes.
He also explained that his approach to draft haredim was based on basic principles and that he held the stance of IDF service for all.
Eisenkot called to cancel “the authority of rabbis to grant what they call ‘deferments’ [to the IDF].”
He also said that the country must reward and value those who serve, and penalize and impose sanctions on those who evade service.
Eisenkot later sharply criticized Gafni’s instruction to halt cooperation with the Israel Police for arresting draft evaders, calling it “a spit in the face of Israel Police officers, a violation of the rule of law, and a call for anarchy that has no place in a law-abiding state.”
Opposition leaders have vowed not to sit in a coalition with the haredi parties after the upcoming elections.
Former prime minister Naftali Bennett, a leading rival of Netanyahu, addressed Eisenkot on Wednesday, stating that there should be absolutely no compromise on drafting haredim.
Bennett had previously called on Eisenkot to join his Together party, which recently merged with opposition leader Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid.
“The State of Israel will not survive when more and more of its citizens are educated to say, ‘We would rather die than enlist,’” Bennett stated.
“In the next government, everyone – everyone – will enlist. Whoever does not serve will not receive a single shekel from the state. It’s that simple,” he added.
Bennett also made the statement addressing the leader of the left-wing Democrats Party Yair Golan, after a Channel 14 video was published on Tuesday, which showed Golan saying that he did not rule out forming a government with the haredi parties.
Golan said that the clip was taken out of context. Channel 14 did not state when the clip was taken.
“We will not sit with the haredim; that is a promise,” Golan vowed in response.
“I understand that Channel 14 is once again trying to take half-sentences and distort them out of context, so let me say this as clearly as possible: The haredi parties have disqualified themselves. Period,” he added.
Haredi draft law, one of Israel’s most contentious topics
The issue of haredi conscription to the IDF has become one of the most critical topics in opposition party campaigns ahead of the elections.
Haredi party leaders have pushed for legislation that would not increase haredi enlistment.
The IDF has repeatedly warned of an urgent manpower shortage, particularly after more than two years of war.
Last week, Brig.-Gen. Shai Tayeb, head of the IDF Planning Directorate, said that 12,000 soldiers were needed to fill the manpower gap. By January 2027, when enlistees for 30 months of service will be discharged, this gap is expected to widen to about 17,000, he added.
In March, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir said the IDF could soon collapse if there is no solution to the manpower shortage.
