Historic first: Haredi officer takes command of IDF battalion Maj. (res) Yossi Levi calls for greater ultra-Orthodox enlistment, warning that increasing hostility to the religious group could widen the military draft gap. JNS Staff March 19, 2025
How to integrate haredi men into Israeli society The Israel Defense Forces must work with community leaders to accommodate religious practices. Farley Weiss Aug. 15, 2022
Memorial Day ceremony honors fallen Israeli soldiers from ‘haredi’ units The ceremony, first held in 2019 with some 1,200 people, was attended by hundreds of religious soldiers and members of the bereaved families. April 14, 2021
Two years after attack, IDF battalion lights candles with bereaved families A memorial to the fallen was erected at the site of the shooting, one of the worst attacks on IDF soldiers in recent years. Dec. 16, 2020
Second memorial ceremony for fallen ultra-Orthodox soldiers goes virtual “At first, we thought that it was incumbent on us to revive their memory, but we discovered that even more so, it is they, through our remembrance of them, who revive us,” said Rabbi Eliyahu Meirav. April 28, 2020
Israeli soldiers say formal prayer for Jewish mourners worldwide amid pandemic “I felt so relieved and at comfort that my mother could be properly honored during my time of mourning,” said Rabbi Shmuel Schwartz, the father of a paratrooper. April 6, 2020
Navigating fine line between Torah observance and Israeli military service, politics aside A new 50-page booklet intended to provide male soldiers with guidelines to maintain strict religious principles in a primarily secular and co-educational army sets off (yet another) firestorm with Yisrael Beiteinu leader Avigdor Lieberman, who slammed the publication. Josh Hasten Oct. 30, 2019
Creating options and opportunities for haredi youth to serve in the IDF Friends of Nahal Haredi has been instrumental in assisting integration in the Israeli military, though its president cautions that the process will be one that occurs over generations. Yaakov Lappin Sept. 26, 2019
The case for enlisting ‘haredi’ men into the Israeli military If the issue is not addressed and ameliorated, it will remain a sticking point in forming future governments, as it has become now. Alex Traiman May 28, 2019
