During a Wednesday discussion in the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee regarding the Draft Law, the IDF revealed startling statistics on the number of haredim who serve in the IDF, Kikar Hashabbat reported.
According to the statistics, between 2019 and 2021, approximately 1,200 haredim enlisted in the IDF each year, out of 12,000 potential recruits. Most of the haredi recruits were between the ages of 18-21, and hundreds are on their way to becoming irreligious, the IDF noted.
Currently, over 3,000 haredim serve in the IDF.
In 2019, 1,222 haredim enlisted in 2020, 1,193 enlisted and in 2021, 1,185 haredim joined the IDF.

According to Brigadier General Amir Vadmani, who heads the Planning and Administration Division in the IDF’s Manpower Directorate, approximately 63,000 haredim between the ages of 18-26 affirm that “their Torah is their occupation,” and the IDF does not investigate whether they are actually enrolled and studying in yeshivas.
In the past year, approximately 900 yeshiva students have had their special status removed, most of them due to travel abroad only about 10% of these 900 have enlisted in the IDF.
Meanwhile, the Draft Law would lower the age of exemption from mandatory service from 26 to 21 or 23. By lowering the age of exemption, the Draft Law aims to help haredim integrate into the job market however, the IDF’s statistics showed that 88% of the haredim who enlist are under age 23.
In the meeting, the IDF said it does not believe the age for exemptions should drop below 23. At the same time, the IDF is planning to open new enlistment racks for haredim.