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SvennoJ on 16 July 2024
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Israeli military to start sending out draft orders to ultra-Orthodox on Sunday

The orders are the first stage in the assessment and evaluation process that the army carries out for new recruits, in advance of the recruitment cycle in the coming year.

“The summons orders were issued as part of the [military’s] program to promote the integration of members of the ultra-Orthodox community into its ranks,” Israel’s military said in a statement on its official Telegram channel.

It said it is working to recruit “from all parts of society due to its status as the people’s army and in view of the increased operational needs at this time, given the security challenges” – meaning the war on Gaza.

The conscription of ultra-Orthodox Jews is among the most contentious issues in Israeli public discourse, raising sentiments of unfair treatment, especially with the war on Gaza that has left many soldiers dead.


Israeli Haredi Jews block highway over pending army conscription

Video posted on X by a correspondent for Israeli newspaper Haaretz shows police removing a child belonging to Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community from a busy road.

Israeli Army Radio reported that the protest included dozens of people, and the Haaretz journalist says that police are making arrests.

Earlier, we reported that the Israeli army will begin sending out conscription orders to members of this community, long given religious exemption from military service, this Sunday.


Netanyahu vows more pressure on Hamas

The Israeli prime minister made the statement after both sides expressed hope earlier this month that renewed ceasefire talks would bear success.

Those talks appear to have again stalled, but Hamas on Sunday said they were ongoing, despite a strike on a “safe” zone in al-Mawasi, southern Gaza that Israel said was targeting the leader of the group’s armed wing. The strike killed at least 90 people.

“This is exactly the time to increase the pressure even more, to bring home all the hostages – the living and the dead – and to achieve all the war objectives,” PM Netanyahu said at an event today.

He again vowed to take Hamas out of the leadership of the enclave.