One hundred and ninety-eight enlisted in combat roles and 42 in combat support as the September recruitment cycle opened.
Two hundred and forty ultra-Orthodox Jewish men enlisted in combat and combat support positions at the start of its September recruitment drive, the Israel Defense Forces said on Tuesday.
The enlistments took place on Monday as part of dedicated tracks for ultra-Orthodox men, a program aimed at integrating members of the Haredi community into military service, according to the IDF. One hundred and ninety-eight recruits joined combat units while 42 were placed in combat support roles.
The figures were published amid a massive mobilization of tens of thousands of IDF reservists ahead of a major military offensive in Gaza City, one of the last Hamas strongholds, and as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition faces continued instability over the passage of a draft exemption law for yeshiva students.