The question of how to draft tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jewish men into the Israeli military has reemerged as one of the most divisive political issues of 2025. There have been mass protests against the move, angry headlines demanding it happen, and even a new political party seeking to resolve the matter.
Away from the noise, however, a slow and quiet rebellion is underway led by insiders who are challenging the status quo in their own way.
According to statistics, nearly 80,000 haredi men between the ages of 18 and 24 remain undrafted, at a time when the IDF has said it urgently needs thousands more soldiers to meet operational demands following Hamas’s attack on October 7, 2023, and two years of war in Gaza and Lebanon.
The latest Knesset proposals – such as the plan of Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman and Likud MK Boaz Bismuth to draft 50% of the haredi cohort within five years and raise the exemption age to 26 – have sparked countless rallies and created tensions inside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition.
In the haredi world, the debate looks quite different than most headlines suggest. Beneath the vocal opposition, a shift is taking place, driven not by politicians but by educators, as well as young men who are confronting questions of identity and belonging.
More than dreams
One of the clearest indicators of this internal change is the work of Rabbi Menachem Bombach, who heads a network of 18 haredi Zionist schools and an online learning program that teaches English, math, and science to some 45,000 yeshiva students, who otherwise might not be exposed to these mainstream subjects.
“My mission is to bring hope for people because everyone feels so bad. I’m bringing something to the table, not just dreams,” he told The Jerusalem Report.
Born and raised in Jerusalem’s Mea She’arim neighborhood, the heart of the ultra-Orthodox world, the 49-year-old rabbi said his method “comes with results.”
The draft controversy dates back to the early years of the state. In 1948, prime minister David Ben-Gurion granted a draft exemption to several hundred yeshiva students to help rebuild the Torah world destroyed in the Holocaust.
What began as a temporary arrangement eventually expanded into a broad exemption policy even as the haredi community grew exponentially and has reached a boiling point over the past two years as the army’s needs have increased due to the war.
While the discussion in 1952 between Ben-Gurion and Rabbi Avraham Yeshaya Karelitz (the Chazon Ish – a key figure in the development of haredi Judaism in Israel) aimed to resolve how religious and secular Jews could live together and share national responsibilities, today the debate in the secular world centers on sharing the burden of military service.
Building bridges
His goal, Bombach said, is to open educational and professional pathways for haredi youth, a move he hopes will eventually lead them to join the military – a rite of passage for most Israeli Jews – and become a stronger pillar in Israeli society.
“This is exactly what I’ve been doing for the past 15 years,” he said, adding that it is helping “to make bridges.”
“I aspire to bring more people from my community to become a part of Israel: to join Israel without losing their identity.”
Bombach’s unusual approach to haredi education mirrors his approach to the draft debate, which was shaped not only by ideology but also by his own personal journey.
Although not required to enlist in the IDF, he decided to sign up in 2019 as part of a program that allows men and women who did not serve at the typical age of 18 to join the army or reserves after completing a shortened basic training program.
He described his decision as deeply personal. “I felt that my heart wanted to meet the country – not only through thought and speech but also through actual action.”
Bombach said he wanted to contribute directly to the country rather than remain on the sidelines. Enlisting, he said, felt like “a step born of closeness, respect, and a deep understanding of shared responsibility.”
During the recent war, he opted to serve in the Home Front Command, the unit that works with civilians, and he now lectures at the Defense Ministry as part of his reserve duty.
Inspired by Bombach, half of the male graduates from his network of high schools are currently enlisted or have served in the IDF. Two of his children also chose to serve.
Long-term change
While the political system debates quotas and exemption ages, the most consequential shift for the draft is happening in the education system.
A decade ago, the idea of mainstream haredi schools teaching core subjects was dismissed as impossible, Bombach recalled.
Today, only 14% to 15% of haredi children attend state-recognized schools that offer subjects such as English and math. Even traditionally conservative hassidic groups such as Belz, Vizhnitz, and Sanz have joined the network. This represents a significant shift in a sector where mainstream education has often excluded general studies.
Bombach believes this is only the beginning. Within five years, he estimates that up to 25% of haredi students will be learning these subjects.
This translates directly into employability, identity stability, and eventually National Service.
The leader of haredi Zionist schools predicts that 40% of the haredi community will soon take part in academic study, the workforce, or service – whether in the military or National Service for women.
But there is an immediate need for these numbers to translate into enlistment.
“The army is in need of manpower now. It’s not a matter of politics,” former defense minister Yoav Gallant said in media interviews last year.
“A movement takes time,” Bombach countered. “If you will not start, it’s never going to happen.”
Shift in debate
According to data from the Jewish People Policy Institute, the haredim number approximately 1.3 million out of Israel’s total population of 9.5 million. They are the fastest-growing sector in the country, with roughly half of them under the age of 18.
For the IDF, this means the number of draft-eligible haredi men is rising rapidly, while the pool of non-haredi recruits is growing much more slowly.
As the community grows, more young haredim are starting to question whether the exemption can still hold.
“They ask themselves, ‘If I’m not sitting and learning Torah, is there any legitimate reason not to participate in Israeli society?’” Bombach said.
He contends that the core issue is not ideology but fear. Haredi leaders and families worry that military service will expose young men to secular norms and social settings that could erode their religious identity.
“They have real fear of losing their identity,” Bombach said, adding, however, “It’s unsustainable to build a community with 100% not joining the army or the workforce.”
And now demographics are forcing the conversation forward – whether leadership wants it or not.
Identity before ideology
The IDF has attempted to address the haredi resistance through special military frameworks such as the Hasmonean Unit, which is designed to protect religious norms around modesty, prayer, and community life.
Bombach said he helped develop some of the unit’s early educational material.
“Trust is the most important principle,” he said. The unit must “prove the reasonability of coming in as a haredi and going out as a haredi.”
Serving alongside women is one of several concerns, but not the defining one. Students with stronger internal “anchors,” he said, don’t take issue with serving alongside women.
“People now have a choice; they can go to all kinds of different units,” he said. “What matters is whether their religious and social identity are resilient.”■