A discussion was held on Sunday in the Knesset’s Subcommittee for IDF Human Resources on the enforcement and arrest policies regarding draft dodgers and deserters, during which updated data was presented regarding the scope of imprisonment, recruitment, and manpower shortages in the IDF.

Brig. Gen. Shay Taib, a senior official in the IDF’s Personnel Directorate, addressed the recruitment of Chareidim, claiming, “We can absorb 5,760 Chareidim in 2025. From 2026 onward, once we are given sufficient notice of about six months, we will have no limitations.”

He said that the IDF is closely monitoring all Chareidim who receive draft notices: “Today, there is no one who is obligated to enlist and is not being tracked by the IDF. In 2024, we issued 26,000 draft notices, and an additional 54,000 by July 2025. In other words, all 80,000 candidates who are obligated to enlist are being tracked and are in the recruitment process.”

The head of the Military Police Incarceration Department, Col. Moni Amar, told the committee members, “We are able to carry out between 500 and 600 proactive arrests a year. In 2025 alone, we already have 1,232 deserters and draft dodgers. There were 196 arrests until July, and from July until today, an additional 471.”

He added that the military system has only 600 prison spaces, and despite the increase in arrests of “draft dodgers,” there is currently no solution for expanding capacity.

“We have tripled the forces at Ben-Gurion Airport to deal with deserters attempting to flee the country, and we are also experiencing many protests in the wake of arrests, ranging from a few dozen to thousands,” he said. “This requires significant resources.”

The committee’s chairman, Yesh Atid MK Elazar Stern, slammed the enforcement policy: “Arrests are not the army’s job. I don’t want a soldier searching for deserters at someone’s mother’s house in Ramla, Bnei Brak, or Jerusalem. That is not the IDF’s role. You cannot rely on the army to do this—it is the responsibility of the civilian police.”

“You can set up detention camps or triple the number of beds, but that will not solve the problem. What will bring more recruits are sanctions and statements from the Rabbanim,” he claimed. “You can’t rely on the Rabbanim—but on sanctions, yes,” he added.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)