[News Terms] "Better Death Than Military Service" Israel's Ultra-Orthodox Jewish 'Haredi'

The Israeli military has begun issuing conscription notices to the 'Haredi' community starting this week. 'Haredi' refers to a group of ultra-Orthodox Jewish believers in Israel. The plural form is 'Haredim.' The origin of the term Haredi comes from the Hebrew word 'Hared,' meaning 'fear' or 'awe.'

The Haredi population is approximately 1.22 million (as of 2021), accounting for about 13% of Israel's total population (around 9.17 million). The Israel Central Bureau of Statistics predicts that by 2061, 40 years from now, Haredim will make up half of Israel's total population. This is due to the total fertility rate. The total fertility rate of Haredim (as of 2020) is an astonishing 6.6 children per woman, more than double Israel's overall fertility rate of 2.9.

The Haredi, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish religious group in Israel, is protesting against the Supreme Court ruling that conscription is justified.
[Image source=AFP Yonhap News]

Haredim live their faith according to the Torah, the law book. The Torah refers to the Pentateuch of the Old Testament, which includes Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. It contains 613 commandments that every Jew must observe, including Moses' Ten Commandments. These 613 commandments consist of 248 positive commandments (do's) and 365 negative commandments (don'ts).

They devote their entire lives to studying the Torah and reject secular culture to an extreme degree. The goal of a Haredi life is to resemble God. Their dress and lifestyle strictly follow the Old Testament. Their high fertility rate is also a faithful adherence to the commandment to "be fruitful and multiply." Even in summer, they wear black clothes covering their bodies and reject the internet and smartphones. More than half of Haredi adults do not work. They have been exempt from military service since the founding of Israel in 1948.

The prolonged Israel-Hamas war has intensified internal conflicts in Israel over the military exemption of Haredim. As Israeli military casualties have accumulated over the past 10 months, issues of manpower shortage and fairness have surfaced. Currently, Israeli men serve 2 years and 8 months, and women serve 2 years in the military.

The reason Haredim have been exempt from military service is said to be a measure to protect Jewish traditions and culture that were nearly annihilated during the Holocaust. In September 2017, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that the exemption of Haredim from military service was unconstitutional. However, due to opposition from ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties such as Shas and the United Torah Judaism (UTJ), the Israeli government had postponed conscription. Then, on the 25th of last month, the Israeli Supreme Court unanimously ruled that conscription of Haredim is justified. Accordingly, the Israeli military sent the first conscription notice to 1,000 eligible individuals on the 21st and plans to send two more notices at two-week intervals.

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties have threatened Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that they will withdraw from the coalition government if the military exemption benefits for Haredim are removed. Currently, the Israeli parliament is controlled by a conservative coalition led by Netanyahu's Likud party, holding 64 out of 120 seats. If Shas (11 seats) and United Torah Judaism (7 seats) withdraw from the coalition, Netanyahu's political base could collapse.