Thousands of ultra-Orthodox young men are scheduled to report to recruitment offices on Monday and Tuesday, after the IDF issued approximately 1,000 draft orders over the past two weeks.
The IDF sent these orders after efforts to identify ultra-Orthodox youths whose enlistment would not cause conflict within their community.
According to data from the National Insurance Institute and other sources, these individuals are not engaged in full-time yeshiva studies. Despite this, senior rabbis have instructed their followers not to report to recruitment offices, with the exception of leaders from major Hasidic sects who advised their students to avoid confrontation during the initial draft summons.
About 600 ultra-Orthodox youths have been summoned for Monday and another 500 for Tuesday. The IDF has allocated a dedicated day for them, ensuring that all interviewers, examiners and medical personnel are male.
The goal is for some draftees to meet with an enlistment officer and receive their military assignments following this initial process. The IDF is also working to establish a combat unit for ultra-Orthodox soldiers and to introduce them to various service tracks in intelligence, the military rabbinate, technology and education.
The IDF acknowledged that this is the first time such an initiative has been undertaken and there is no estimate on how many will respond to the draft summons. A review will follow this initial phase to prepare for subsequent rounds of draft orders. Extreme factions within the ultra-Orthodox community plan to disrupt the recruitment days by protesting outside the Tel Hashomer base.
Posters in ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods in Jerusalem and other cities declare: "Since the founding of the state, there has never been such a terrible catastrophe for the young ultra-Orthodox community in the Holy Land. Never before have 1,000 boys been summoned within two days, and this is just the beginning."
Organized buses are set to depart tomorrow from Jerusalem and Beit Shemesh, carrying members of the Satmar Hasidim and other extreme factions to Tel Hashomer. Last Tuesday, ultra-Orthodox extremists gathered at the entrance to Beit HaHayal in Tel Aviv, where an information session for draft-eligible ultra-Orthodox youths was held. Protesters urged attendees not to enter, calling it "Auschwitz" and a "defiled place," while blocking the building's entrance.