Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the IDF’s Hasmonean Brigade training base in the Jordan Valley on Tuesday, lauding the brigade as a model for integrating haredi (ultra-Orthodox) soldiers into military service while preserving their religious lifestyle.
Netanyahu, accompanied by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and senior defense officials, met with soldiers and commanders at the training facility at Camp Tevetz and received a briefing on the brigade’s operations, including its combat deployment in Gaza.
“We are here at the Hasmonean Brigade in the Jordan Valley, the IDF's first haredi brigade. I have now met with both the commanders and the soldiers, and it is uplifting,” Netanyahu said. “You see young haredi men who come here, enlist, and become excellent fighters. They have already been to Gaza and fought with distinction. Sadly, some of their friends in the Netzah Yehuda battalion fell in battle last week.”
Netanyahu emphasized that service in the brigade enables ultra-Orthodox soldiers to maintain their religious identity.
“They come in as haredi and they come out as haredi, which is entirely possible,” he said. “They aren't coming under coercion, but willingly, and that willingness is widespread among the haredi public. We can lead a process, not one of confrontation and infighting, but rather a mobilization of all the forces in Jewish society in order to truly bring security to our state and defend our people.”
The prime minister also addressed broader regional security concerns and the IDF's presence in Syria.
“We will not allow a return to the situation where a second Lebanon is being established there, and we also have an obligation to safeguard the Druze locals,” Netanyahu said.
Smotrich praises Hasmonean Brigade
Smotrich praised the Hasmonean Brigade as a success story, stating that it demonstrates how members of the Haredi community can be integrated into the IDF while preserving their religious values.
“We are determined to bring about, God willing, the enlistment of many thousands of haredi men, building trust through a determined and comprehensive process,” Smotrich said.
Netanyahu and Smotrich were joined by key officials, including Netanyahu’s chief of staff, Tzachi Braverman; Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs; Military Secretary Maj.-Gen. Roman Gofman, and others.