The issue of haredi conscription to the IDF has held a mirror up to Israeli society regarding the value of equality, but it has also exposed a dangerous gap in the IDF’s ability to meet escalating security needs while the essential national manpower pool shrinks. The public discourse, focused on internal Jewish justice, diverts attention from the critical and urgent need to reconsider the policy of non-conscription of Arab citizens of Israel – not as an alternative to solving the haredi problem, but as a strategic and moral national opportunity.
The arguments for haredi conscription revolve around the core principles of equality in burden and demographic security necessity. Yet, the opposition from the haredi leadership and populace transcends typical disagreement: it is based on a profound religious and ideological claim of “Torah study is their profession” (“Torato umanuto”), accompanied by extremist declarations of “We will die rather than enlist.” The army requires massive resources and complex accommodations (Kashrut, gender segregation, set study times) to integrate this group, while the actual enlistment rate remains very low relative to the potential.
The effort to forcibly enlist haredim threatens to damage Jewish social cohesion. Against this stubborn refusal stands a huge and untapped enlistment potential: the Arab sector in Israel, which comprises approximately 20% of the population.
Excluding Arabs
The insistence on haredi conscription, despite their ideological opposition and explicit rejection of the state and its military institutions, while entirely ignoring the Arab sector as if it were non-existent and as if security considerations did not pertain to them, carries a latent element of discriminatory and subtle racism. The implicit assumption is that a “Jew” must be prioritized, even one who does not recognize the state and views the IDF as a “heretic army,” over an Arab-Israeli citizen who wishes to enlist and expresses civil loyalty.
In practice, the state chooses to enforce the law on a group that generates chaos and expresses deep alienation (haredim), while rejecting groups of citizens willing to contribute and express full citizenship (Arab volunteers). This pattern of behavior sends a dual message: the value of “Jewishness” outweighs the value of “citizenship and loyalty,” thereby deepening the feeling of exclusion and second-class citizenship among the Arab minority.
Rethinking alienation
The alienation that historically led the IDF to avoid drafting Arabs was national-political: the fear of conflicting loyalties. In contrast, haredi alienation is religious-cultural-value-based: an existential spiritual threat perceived to be against their way of life. Addressing the haredi “alienation” requires drastic adjustments to the military framework, involving high operational, budgetary, and executive costs.
In contrast, Arab society has undergone a rapid process of civil-economic integration in recent years. Educated and urban Arab youth, as well as many Arab women, desire to contribute to the state (through national service, and increasingly through the IDF) as a tool for personal, professional, and economic advancement. These groups come from a modern worldview and are ready to integrate into more open frameworks.
The accommodations required for them are easier and less complex than those for the haredim. They primarily require security clearance, integration, and training, rather than a fundamental change in lifestyle or the operational structure of the unit. Instead of forcing service upon a resistant group (haredim), wide pathways can be paved for the active, voluntary enlistment of those Arabs who express deep connection to the state and Israeli identity.
Untapped potential
The advantage of voluntary Arab conscription is particularly salient in the economic and image spheres. The attempt to enforce haredi enlistment creates an economic burden: the cost of accommodations is high, and it prolongs reliance on state support. In sharp contrast, enlisting educated Arabs into service is an economic investment – the service provides a vital bridge to skills acquisition and stable employment, increasing the national tax base.
Furthermore, at a time when Israel is under heavy international criticism, encouraging the enlistment of loyal minorities is living proof to the world that Israel is a democracy that allows equal opportunity and full citizenship to all its inhabitants, thereby achieving valuable image and diplomatic returns.
The demographic potential of Muslim Arab men aged 18 stands at over 12,500 young men per year – a figure equivalent to the enlistment potential of haredi men. Utilizing even a small portion of this potential through voluntary pathways can immediately and significantly alleviate the military manpower shortage. IDF initiatives have shown that establishing a single haredi battalion of veteran fighters can save thousands of reserve days. This principle, that one fighting battalion creates a dramatic relief in the general burden, holds equally true for an Arab fighting battalion established on a volunteer basis.
The historical policy of non-conscription for Arab citizens stemmed from weighty national security considerations, recognizing the complexity of imposing mandatory service on a population in conflict with the state. However, the assumption that these considerations apply uniformly to the entire Arab population is mistaken and does not reflect the changing reality, and they should not constitute a blanket barrier against citizens willing to fulfill their obligations to the state’s security and resilience
Combined solution
The burden of the equality crisis, rooted in the haredi refusal, requires the state to think outside the box. Adherence to anachronistic and prejudiced assumptions regarding Arab alienation constitutes a waste of immense human resources and a policy of excluding loyal citizens.
Actively and favorably opening the doors of the army and national service to those Arabs who seek integration: reduces the security burden falling entirely on the non-haredi public; increases civil cohesion by allowing the expression of a broader Israeli identity that is not exclusively Jewish; and reduces the need for violent coercion against the haredi public, thereby maintaining internal Jewish peace. Instead of searching for painful and forced solutions, the state must recognize those who extend a helping hand and pave their way to the heart of society and service. This is a path to turning a national crisis into a strategic opportunity.
The writer is a PhD candidate in the Department of Middle East Studies at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and a member of the researchers’ forum of the Elyashar Center at the Ben-Zvi Institute.