IDF prepared to draft fewer than 5,000 Yeshiva students

Deputy Attorney General Gil Limon criticized the IDF's position on conscripting ultra-Orthodox individuals. According to Kan, during a Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting, IDF Deputy Chief of General Staff Amir Baram stated that the army is prepared to draft no more than 4,800 yeshiva students over the next two years. Limon argued that this number does not meet the requirements specified in the High Court ruling.

The committee met yesterday to consider the draft law on conscription. IDF Chief of Personnel Directorate Major General Yaniv Asor did not attend the meeting, and the reason for his absence is unknown. Deputy Chief of General Staff Major General Amir Baram participated instead. "I was supposed to be where the fighting is today, but the Minister of Defense asked me to take part in the discussion," Baram said.

This is the second time Asor has failed to appear at a meeting despite being invited and previously confirming his participation. Committee members were outraged by his absence. "We have questions for the personnel department. Instead of the head of the department, they send another officer who has no answers and no authority," a source in the commission told Kan.