Israel drafts 7,000 ultra-Orthodox Jews

JERUSALEM (AFP) — Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant issued 7,000 additional army draft orders Monday for individuals from the country’s ultra-Orthodox community, historically exempted from mandatory service until a June Supreme Court decision.

Gallant approved the Israeli army’s “recommendation to issue an additional 7,000 orders for screening and evaluation processes for ultra-Orthodox draft-eligible individuals in the upcoming phase, which is expected to begin in the coming days,” the defense ministry said in a statement.

The order comes after a first round of 3,000 draft orders were sent out in July, sparking protests from the ultra-Orthodox community.

Monday’s orders come at a time when Israel is struggling to bolster troop numbers as it fights a multi-front war, with ground forces deployed to fight Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

“The defense minister concluded that the war and the challenges we face underscore the (Israeli army’s) need for additional soldiers. This is a tangible operational need that requires broad national mobilization from all parts of society,” the ministry said.

In Israel, military service is mandatory for Jewish men for 32 months, and for 24 months for Jewish women.

The ultra-Orthodox account for 14 percent of Israel’s Jewish population, according to the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI), representing about 1.3 million people.

About 66,000 of those of conscription age are exempted, according to the army.

Under a rule adopted at Israel’s creation in 1948, when it applied to only 400 people, the ultra-Orthodox have historically been exempted from military service if they dedicate themselves to the study of sacred Jewish texts.

In June, Israel’s Supreme Court ordered the draft of yeshiva (seminary) students after deciding the government could not keep up the exemption “without an adequate legal framework.”

Hamas’ 7 October attack resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an Agence France-Presse (AFP) tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed 43,374 people in Gaza, a majority of them civilians, according to Gaza health ministry figures which the United Nations considers to be reliable.

Since late September, Israel has broadened the focus of its war to Lebanon, where it intensified air strikes and later sent in ground troops, following nearly a year of tit-for-tat cross-border fire with Hezbollah.

Settlers torch cars

Meanwhile, Israeli settlers torched nearly 20 cars early Monday in the occupied West Bank city of Al-Bireh near Ramallah, according to the Palestinian civil defence and an Israeli security source.

An AFP journalist saw several cars completely charred, and the blackened facade of the five-story building outside which they were parked.

An alert rang “at 3:30 a.m. signaling that settlers entered the area and committed acts of vandalism,” said Rami Omar, head of the local civil defense office.

An Israeli security official told AFP notification of the incident came at 4 a.m. and soldiers were sent who arrived on site after the settlers had gone.

The official, who was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, said 19 vehicles had been burned by settlers.

Israeli police, soldiers and Shin Bet security agency officers collected evidence in Al-Bireh for the investigation, the official added.

Israeli authorities did not yet know where the settlers came from and what their motives were.

Ihab al-Zabin, a resident of the damaged building, told AFP he saw the arsonists run away towards the nearby Israeli settlement of Beit El. Zabin said he saw around 10 people he identified as settlers “pouring liquids on vehicles in front of the building and then setting them on fire.”