With Israel’s Oct. 27 election approaching, military police detained at least 40 ultra-Orthodox men at Ben Gurion Airport on Oct. 20, bringing the country’s unresolved military draft dispute into focus.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the men were subject to mandatory military service and would be tried under the law.
A 2024 Supreme Court ruling required the military to draft eligible ultra-Orthodox men because no law authorized the group’s broad exemption. Some reservists have complained that the exemptions leave them carrying an unequal share of military service, CBS News reported.
Ultra-Orthodox political leaders have sought legislation that would retain broad exemptions while requiring a share of ultra-Orthodox men and women to serve. In a Kol Barama radio interview on Oct. 20, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opposed the detentions, arguing that arrests would hinder efforts to recruit men without coercion.
A Middle East Forum polling average updated Oct. 19 projected 54 seats for Netanyahu’s bloc, short of the 61 needed for a majority in the 120-seat Knesset. It assigned eight seats each to his ultra-Orthodox allies, Shas and United Torah Judaism. Israel votes Oct. 27.
