The IDF announced Wednesday that it has dispatched an additional 54,000 draft orders to bnei yeshiva who are legally eligible for military service but have not enlisted.
According to the IDF, the orders are part of the initial stage of screening and evaluation for potential recruits expected to be inducted in the coming year. Until now, the army had refrained from aggressively pursuing enlistment among lomdei Torah, in recognition of their contribution to the security of Klal Yisrael. That policy has now been upended.
In addition to the 24,000 draft notices that were already issued between July 2024 and May 2025 to Chareidi men up to age 28 — only a fraction of whom were actually inducted — this latest round of 54,000 notices brings the total to nearly 80,000 conscription orders. Practically speaking, this means that nearly every yeshiva bochur between the ages of 18 and 24 who previously held a deferral is now being summoned for evaluation.
Even more concerning is the change in policy regarding young teens: for the first time, the IDF is sending initial draft notices to all Israeli citizens upon reaching age 16.5 — including Chareidim, who had previously been exempted at that stage.
A statement released by the IDF acknowledged the growing unrest but maintained that it is acting “in accordance with the law and the directives of the political echelon.” The IDF also claimed it would “do everything in its power to expand recruitment and adapt the conditions for the Chareidi population serving, while preserving their way of life.”
The broader context includes an ongoing military conflict that has put immense strain on the defense establishment, with the IDF publicly saying that it faces a shortage of 12,000 soldiers, including 7,000 combat troops. Amid that pressure, voices in the secular and national-religious sectors have intensified calls for mandatory service for Chareidim.
But within the Olam Hatorah, the issue is not political, but existential.
Gedolei Yisrael have long maintained that Torah learning is the true safeguard of Am Yisrael, and that any attempt to coerce bnei yeshiva into abandoning their mission represents a breach of the balance upon which Israel was built.
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9 Responses
How about 54,000 Arab bloodsuckers send them a notice. Maybe they can do national service and pave roads or build new hospitals to house all the terror victims they create. But no you continue to grant them full citizenship and voting and scholarships without asking them to contribute a thing
They’ll need to build concentration camps for yeshiva bachurim! do they have enough judenpolizei to hunt down jews?
The best hope for the Torah world — and Clal Yisroel as a whole is via Ambassador Huckabee and President Trump — the two of them together must stress to Israel that all the support that the US gives to Israel is predicated on Israel as a Torah nation — the land of the Bible — if the government and supreme court want to turn Israel into just another secular state — then there is no reason for Trump and America to give Israel such a favored-nation status and do all that they do to support Israel financially and militarily.
YWN is complicit, STOP GLORIFYING THE IDF! STOP REPORTING ON THEM! WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON?!?!
Israel becomes aggressive against the Torah – the world is becoming increasingly aggressive against Israel – מדה כנגד מדה
The Torah world should be the first ones out on the battlefield. You all are crazy. You have no idea. You are users and abusers of the system that we all work for except for you. You shnor for our money and resources while at the same time expecting to be able to give nothing back in return and you expect us to be grateful, it’s a busha and you should be ashamed.
I learned for ten years in a Hesder Yeshiva. I’m part of the Torah world, I keep halacha, know Shas and Poskim, and spend much of my day learning. I don’t feel “under siege,” unless someone wants to say I’m not part of the Torah world, which is fine, but I don’t believe that when I stand before Shamayim, Hashem will say, “All who learned in a black-hat yeshiva go in this line, everyone else over there.” More likely, He will say, “All who kept the Torah…”
If you want to have a discussion about the current situation and the merits or demerits of what Israel is doing, we can. If you think what Israel is doing is terrible, we can discuss that too. I’m not taking a side here (though nuance isn’t the specialty of most people on this site, so many may not read beyond the surface).
All I’m saying is let’s not use false categories to sensationalize and portray this as if it’s some battle from years past. There are thousands of people in the real Torah world who are not “under siege”
Stop dividing the Jewish people into false categories or any for that matter. Unfortunately, it aligns with YWN’s tired and distasteful approch to the world, how they label tragedies such as “charedi Jews injured” or “Cheredi killed.” A Jew is a Jew, and pain is pain. Using labels to sensationalize or score points is repulsive, and YWN’s constant framing turns real suffering into clickbait.
this is not the Olam Hatorah… this is the Olam HaSheker, the Olam HaNonsense, the Olam HaAvodah Zarah, the Olam of Fake/False Yiddishkeit! They are not following the Torah of Hashem! Hashem demands that his Torah be FOLLOWED! — ⚔️ IL MORALITY SWORD! 🕎 KIDDUSH HASHEM! 🙂
tomorrow – From my experience on this forum, the חוץ לארץ residents (on both sides of the debate) for the most part don’t understand the reality of the מצב here. Some rant and rave about imaginary ‘Zionists’ (the AG and Bagatz being the big Zionists that they are…), and some express righteous indignation about the supposed hypocrisy of the Israeli Yeshiva bochurim (as if THEY served in the IDF themselves…) For some reason, those who actually live here (again, on both sides of the debate) see things in a much more nuanced light…