Since Israeli independence in 1948, most Haredi Jews in Israel have been exempt from military service under an arrangement based on the principle of Torato Umanuto, whereby young men who declare themselves full time yeshiva students and devote their lives to Torah study serve a shortened service or are exempted entirely. This arrangement lasted until 2014, when legislation was passed with a timeline for eventual conscription. In 2024, widespread enforcement of conscription began amidst the ongoing Gaza war.
In response to conscription efforts, the Haredi community has staged large scale protests to maintain their exemption. The most widespread protests occurred in 2014 and 2024, after legislation on Haredi conscription.
Overall, the issue of Haredi conscription in Israel has remained highly contentious.
Status As the Israeli population has grown over the years, the number of Haredi men eligible for exemption has risen from 400 to tens of thousands in 2024. In 2022, an estimated 18.4% of Jewish men refused to serve, with the majority citing religious belief as the reason. As of 2026, the number of Haredi soldiers in the IDF remains low.
Israelis who belong to the Religious Zionist community are conscripted, often under the yeshiva system of the Hesder program, which combines Torah study with military service.
History Torato Umanuto exemption arrangement
During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Israeli prime minister David Ben-Gurion reached a special arrangement with Haredi representative Yitzhak-Meir Levin, who led the Haredi party Agudat Yisrael in Israel. The arrangement was based on the Jewish principle of Torato Umanuto, so that those in the Haredi community eligible for conscription would be exempt from service in the IDF as long as Torah study is their sole profession, which for many is a religious commandment that is devoted a majority of the day.
The Haredi community maintains that studying Torah is crucial for defending the Israeli people from threats.
The Israeli government seeks to preserve the secular–religious status quo with the aim of maintaining national and political stability. This arrangement based on the principle of Torato Umanuto effectively became a regulation under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defense.
Following the Six Day war, defense minister Moshe Dayan headed a committee to examine the issue of Haredi conscription based on a request from chief of staff Haim Bar-Lev, but decided on keeping the existing arrangement with 800 exemptions per year.
In 1970, a petition was filed with the Supreme Court of Israel regarding the exemptions, with the court upholding the existing arrangements.
In 1977, after the legislative election that year introduced the nation's first right-wing government, the quotas on Haredi exemptions were lifted completely following an agreement between Likud and Agudat Yisrael.
In 1981, the governing coalition expanded exemptions to include those besides students involved in Torah study including teachers, rabbis, and others.
In 1986, a petition to the Supreme Court was again filed on Haredi exemptions, with the court again upholding the arrangement. However, the court also determined that the petitioner had a right of standing, and that the number of exemptions is an important factor on this matter.
Also in 1986, the Knesset formed the Cohen Committee to examine Haredi exemption policy, and decided on an arrangement with more limitations on exemption. The recommendation was for the exemption arrangement to only apply to select schools, and that only 200 outstanding yeshiva students per year would receive full exemption, with the others conscripted for a shortened service of about a year.
Tal Law
In 1998, a petition was filed to the Supreme Court regarding the exemptions. The court ruled that due to the scale of exemptions, new legislation from the Knesset was needed to regulate this matter.
In 1999, in accordance with the judicial ruling, Prime Minister Ehud Barak set up a public committee, which was headed by Justice Zvi Tal and therefore known as the Tal Committee. In April 2000, the committee reported its recommendations, which were approved by the Knesset in July 2002. This law became known as the "Tal Law", and provided for a continuation of the existing arrangement based on the principle of Torato Umanuto, but laid down several specific conditions into the law, in the hopes that exemptions would decrease over time.
Under this legislation, yeshiva students who dedicate to Torah study full time can delay army service until the age of 23, and afterwards can either serve 16 months of military service (shortened from three years) or may also serve for a year of Sherut Leumi. Afterwards, they may then choose to join the workforce.
Following the 2003 elections, the Haredi parties lost their place in the government to the secular anti-religious Shinui party. In 2005, Shinui left the government and Ariel Sharon brought the Haredi United Torah Judaism party into his ruling coalition. Shinui advocates stopping extra funding to mostly Haredi schools and resistance to Tal Law, which gives legal status exemptions from Haredi conscription. Nevertheless, in recent years as many as 1,000 Haredi Jews have chosen to volunteer to serve in the IDF, in a Haredi Jewish unit, the Netzah Yehuda Battalion, also known as Nahal Haredi. The vast majority of Haredi men, however, continue to receive deferments from military service.
In 2005, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni stated that the Tal Law, which by then had yet to be fully implemented, did not provide an adequate solution to Haredi conscription. The legislation originally intended for Haredi students to leave the yeshivas with shortened military service and then join the workforce, but in reality most chose to continue Torah study in order to avoid military service. At the time, only 1,115 of the 41,450 yeshiva students covered by the arrangement had taken the "decision year" provided by the law, and of these only 31 had later enlisted in the IDF. In 2007, the Tal Law was extended until August 2012.
In January 2012, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said his ministry was preparing an alternative to the Tal Law. Dozens of IDF reserve soldiers had put up what they called "the suckers' camp" near the Tel Aviv Savidor Central railway station, to protest the possible extension of the Tal Law. Several politicians, public figures, disabled IDF veterans and high school and university students visited the protest encampment.
Conscription amendments In February 2012, the Supreme Court ruled that the Tal Law in its current form was unconstitutional and could not be extended beyond August. After the law expired, military conscription into the IDF became mandatory for all members of the Haredi community, with a penalty of imprisonment for up to five years for those who refuse to enlist.
In response, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the government would formulate a new bill that would guarantee a more equal sharing of the burden by all parts of Israeli society. The issue also caused division within the 2nd Netanyahu government and almost led to a government collapse leading into the 2013 legislative election.
Following unsuccessful attempts to draft a new law, including the Plesner Committee, a new committee was formed to decide on a new Haredi conscription policy. This committee was called the Special Committee for the Equal Sharing of the Burden Bill, and informally known as the "Shaked Committee" after its chairwoman MK Ayelet Shaked of Bayit Yehudi.
In March 2014, the committee proposed a bill for increasing enlistment among those eligible in the Haredi community, leading to widespread protests.
On 12 March 2014, the bill passed the Knesset as an amendment to the Israeli Defense Service Law. Under the new law, the government would establish annual enlistment targets for the Haredim that would increase gradually until 2017. If the targets are met by 2017, then enlistment will remain voluntary. But if they are not met, then conscription will begin for most Haredi students, with the only exemptions being for a total of 1,800 standout students, who would be allowed to continue their yeshiva studies. This decision led to massive protests among the Haredim against conscription.
In November 2015, the Knesset under the 34th government passed an amendment that provided extensions for the enlistment plan passed in March 2014. Under the new amendment, the deadline for enlistment was pushed back from 2017 to 2020, and criminal sanctions for those not enlisted were also pushed back until 2023.
On 12 September 2017, the Supreme Court struck down both the 2014 and 2015 amendments, ruling that blanket military service exemptions for Haredi students were illegal and discriminatory. The court decided to terminate the amendments in a year to allow time for the Knesset to pass new legislation.
In February 2018, defense minister Avigdor Lieberman led a committee to draft a new conscription bill after the previous attempt was struck down. The bill passed first reading in July, but could not continue after Yesh Atid withdrew support for it. The coalition reached a deadlock over the issue, with the Knesset dissolving itself and leading to early elections. This would ultimately lead to the 2018–2022 Israeli political crisis, with Haredi conscription remaining a cause for political deadlock.
On 20 January 2019, due to continued political crisis, the Supreme Court decided to extend the deadline for passing a conscription bill until 28 July 2019. On 29 May 2019, coalition talks failed and the Knesset dissolved itself, leading to a new election.
In January 2022, the Knesset under the 36th government voted on the first reading of a new draft law, but it did not pass due to opposition from MK Ghaida Rinawie Zoabi of Meretz.
On 12 July 2022, the Supreme Court again gave an extension for passing a conscription bill due to ongoing political instability, with the deadline now set for July 2023.
On 25 June 2023, as the court extension for passing a conscription bill was set to expire, the cabinet passed a resolution that extended conscription exemptions for the Haredim by 10 months until April 2024. By July, a petition was filed to the Supreme Court for conscripting Haredi students, with the court ruling to wait and provide some time for a government response.
Enforcement since 2024 On 26 February 2024, the Supreme Court issued an interim order requiring a government explanation for the non-enlistment of yeshiva students by 31 March.
In March 2024, a draft was prepared for legislating Haredi conscription. This draft allowed continued exemption for those engaged in Torah study, but everyone else would be required to serve in either the IDF or in non-military roles such as in United Hatzalah or the Israel Police. For the first time, a Haredi conscription draft was recognized by the Haredi rabbis. However, chief rabbi Yitzhak Yosef remained opposed to this conscription draft.
Also in March 2024, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara instructed both the Education Ministry and the Defense Ministry to begin the drafting process for Haredi men.
On 1 April 2024, the Supreme Court decided that the Haredim would no longer receive an exemption from military service and that yeshivas could no longer receive the associated government subsidies. In response, the coalition government clarified that it had not agreed to an extension of the exemption, which had thus expired.