Figures released for Israel army recruitment of Ultra-Orthodox Jews

Official dated released by the Knesset Research and Information Centre concerning ultra-Orthodox enlistment in the Israeli army has revealed that as of last August, 7,250 Haredi soldiers enlisted, according to a report by Ynet.

The report notes that although these figures do not meet the targets set by an earlier version of the “Israeli Defence Service Law”, the numbers do reflect “the steady rise of ultra-Orthodox recruits in the past three years”.

Specifically, Ynet reported, in recent years there has been a roughly 50 per cent increase in the numbers of recruits defined as Haredim.

In addition, in 2017, some 50 per cent of the 7,250 ultra-Orthodox youths who enlisted in the army, served in combat units, whereas 19 per cent (1,350) served in general military units.

The report also shows that the army spends tens of millions of shekels each year to assist so-called “lone soldiers”, and also allocates 200 million shekels ($53.8 million) “each year to help integrate religious soldiers in the job market”.

READ: Threat to Netanyahu’s coalition over ultra-Orthodox enlistment recedes