After the Hamas attack, many things in Israel are no longer the same as they used to be. According to the army, 2,000 ultra-Orthodox people have volunteered for military service – even though they are actually exempt from it.
Itzik goes to the Yakoov Dori barracks near Tel Aviv for the first time. He wears a white shirt and a black yarmulke on his head. “I always wanted to be part of it, but couldn’t because of the way I lived,” he says. “I currently work as a social worker. And now, in this situation, I felt like I had to do more.”
Itzik volunteered for military service. This is unusual because he is an Orthodox Jew. Many of them concentrate on their religious studies and do not have to join the army. This makes them somewhat of outsiders in Israeli society.
But since Hamas attacked Israel, everything has changed. More and more ultra-Orthodox people are volunteering for the army, as their spokesman Daniel Hagari says: “So far, over 2,000 applications have been received from the ultra-Orthodox population. We are developing programs for them and will start recruiting volunteers. They will be accepted and become part of our army war effort.”
Organization of food, protective vests or transport
The army reacted quickly. The first training sessions for around 120 recruits have been underway since the beginning of the week. The military is talking about a historic opportunity to better integrate the ultra-Orthodox. Initially, the new recruits will support the medical units or logistics and administration. Longer training would be necessary for combat missions.
Nechumi Yaffe is the first and only ultra-Orthodox female professor. The political scientist observes that something has started to move in the community. “We are experiencing probably the most terrible moment since the country was founded,” she says in an interview with ARD Studio Tel Aviv. “The ultra-Orthodox now simply want to be allies, help and do their part.”
Yaffe sits in an office in Jerusalem. Dozens of young ultra-Orthodox people are milling around them. With laptops on their knees, they organize food, protective vests or transport for soldiers at the front. The army has mobilized hundreds of thousands of people in record time, meaning logistics can barely keep up. The ultra-Orthodox volunteers fill this gap – together with other initiatives.
“A lot of people are just getting closer to each other”
A few weeks ago, Israeli society seemed more divided than ever before. In the dispute over judicial reform, strictly religious and secular Jews were irreconcilably opposed to each other. That seems almost forgotten. “A lot of people are just getting closer,” says Yaffe. “They say: We went too far with our own view of reality. We didn’t care enough about our fellow brothers and allowed the conflict to escalate.”
The professor is still somewhat skeptical as to whether the social divide will be overcome in the long term. But she hopes so. She estimates that about 30 percent of ultra-Orthodox are ready for military service. Another 20 percent could imagine taking on other tasks.
But there are also critical voices. The new recruit Itzik also knows this. “At first I thought it would be easy,” he says. “But now I realize that the reality is a little different. I have six children. On the one hand, my family is happy for me and encourages me. On the other hand, it’s not easy for them. It’s not so easy to accept in our community. I hope “That everything runs smoothly.”
After all: Itzik is not alone. The onslaught of ultra-Orthodox members of the army shows no sign of abating.