The “Haredim for Israel’s Security” forum was established in response to the new security reality that has emerged in recent years and was reshaped following the murderous attack by Hamas on October 7th, alongside Israel’s need to address multiple war fronts simultaneously.
The security landscape is changing rapidly and dramatically. According to expert assessments, Israel faces at least a decade of high-intensity, multi-front challenges, coupled with increasing defense expenses. Such a reality presents the IDF with complex operational challenges and imposes additional heavy burdens on the existing security infrastructure.
In this context, given the rapid demographic growth of the Haredi community in Israel and its long-term ramifications, it is clear to all that there is a critical need to define the scope of the Haredi community’s involvement in national security. Such a need is exacerbated by a severe shortage of skilled manpower on a significant scale within Israel’s defense system, defense industries, and national emergency and rescue organizations.
The program has identified significant potential in the harnessing of a critical mass of Haredim at ages not required for mandatory service (beyond the exemption age, for example). This represents a historic, dramatic, and transformative initiative, providing an impactful and immediate response to Israel’s urgent security needs.
The “Executive Program: 2030” does not serve, nor does it aspire to serve, as a substitute for the draft law with its evident complexities. The primary contribution of this program lies in its ability to be implemented under any scenario independently and with high feasibility, designed to address Israel’s security challenges rapidly and with full consensus. Taking into account both Israel’s security challenges and the necessity of defining the scope of the Haredi community’s involvement in addressing them, the program offers an opportunity for members of the Haredi community who are not subject to mandatory service in the IDF to make a significant contribution to Israel’s security.
Focusing on the security needs of the State of Israel as defined by the defense establishment, while avoiding engagement in or discussion of social controversies such as the issues of sustaining the Haredi Torah world or the question of equality in sharing the burden.
These issues, due to their significant tension and historical weight, create complexities that hinder productive and effective dialogue, particularly in providing a targeted and urgent response to Israel’s current emergency situation and security challenges. This program avoids such hindrances by identifying roles where there is a significant and ongoing need for high-quality manpower, and by recognizing and actualizing potential to engage Haredim who are not subject to mandatory service (beyond the exemption age) for training and activity in those high-demand roles.
Our underlying assumption regarding the willingness of the Haredi population that isn’t subject to regular service (beyond the exemption age) to join Israel’s reserve framework is based, among other things, on professional public opinion surveys conducted by the “Institute for Strategy and Haredi Policy”. These surveys reveal a new and highly significant finding:
The program’s unique value proposition for engaging this population in reserve service creates an entirely new manpower pool—ex nihilo of tens of thousands—that is not currently considered part of the potential reserve personnel within the defense system.
Such a value proposition provides a significant response to the burden on the reserve system caused by extended service periods during months of warfare and the anticipated intensive deployment in the coming years due to security needs across various fronts. It offers an innovative and groundbreaking solution to strengthening national security.
Simultaneously, the program has identified an urgent need to engage and train tens of thousands of Haredim in two additional key areas beyond the roles of reserve combatants in defense: tens of thousands of workers for the defense industries, from basic positions to key roles; and tens of thousands of dedicated volunteers in the civilian emergency arena to provide support and assistance in complex emergencies.
The “Executive Program: 2030” presents a structured policy proposal to address these challenges.
Annual recruitment of thousands of Haredi volunteers beyond the exemption age, for active, committed, and recurring reserve service over the years in defense roles, as proscribed by the defense establishment.
- Training: Conducted according to defense establishment requirements and tailored to the Haredi way of life.
- Objective: Provide solutions for defense and routine security missions, free up existing forces for deeper operational tasks, and significantly alleviate the burden on current reserve personnel.
Training thousands of Haredi men and women annually for a variety of essential roles in the defense industry to address growing needs.
- Scope of Roles: Includes production lines, operations, heavy truck driving, and installation, as well as key positions in research, engineering, and the development of advanced technologies to counter diverse threats.
- Objective: Address the increasing and critical needs of the defense industries while engaging the Haredi population in this arena.
Training thousands of existing volunteers and engaging thousands more within Haredi civil society organizations for a national emergency and rescue framework.
- Training: Includes operating emergency systems, assisting victims, conducting evacuations, and crisis management.
- Objective: Dramatically enhance the preparedness and resilience of the Israeli civilian front, while adapting training and coordination to the Haredi way of life and optimizing the use of civilian and community resources.
The program has received full adoption and broad support from the top echelons of the IDF and other senior figures in the defense establishment and the Ministry of Defense. Additionally, the program has garnered significant response and widespread support from dozens of security leaders and former senior officials in security institutions, including top figures in the National Security Council, the IDF, the Home Front Command, the Shin Bet, and the Prime Minister’s Office, which view it as a unique, groundbreaking, and transformative initiative on a national scale.
Due to the program’s unique value proposition, which combines addressing security needs while accommodating Haredi way of life and avoidance of narrative-driven discussions, the program team operates in collaboration with both national security institutions and Haredi leadership. This is done with full commitment to the security needs as proscribed by the defense institutions, while maintaining high professional standards and accommodating the needs of the Haredi community and the program’s target audience.
The “Executive Program: 2030” is not intended to provide a comprehensive and permanent solution to all aspects of integrating the Haredi community into security challenges. Instead, it aims to deliver an immediate response in the short and medium term to various security challenges and foster long-term integration into the reserve framework. Its goal is to engage the Haredi community in addressing current national security and emergency challenges, while laying the groundwork for altering the existing reality and opening opportunities for future solutions in evolving areas.