In contrast, the IDF incurs much higher costs for Haredim serving in the
Shahar program, which is targeted at ultra-Orthodox men between the
ages of 22 and 26. Participants of the Shahar program have shorter
military service terms, study academic subjects and receive vocational
training. These soldiers cost the IDF an average of NIS 9,500 per month –
NIS 5,500 a month more than the average IDF conscript.
Why A Haredi Draft Might Bankrupt The State
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
At what age should haredim be drafted?
Many Israelis want haredim to be drafted at age 18, just as all other Jewish Israelis are. Others – especially some Zionist Orthodox and Likud politicians – advocate drafting haredim at a later age to allow them more years of uninterrupted yeshiva study. Their proposals have ranged from 28-years-old down to 23-years old.
The Yesh Atid's party’s No. 2, MK Shay Piron, wants to drat haredim between 20- and 21-years-of-age. Yair Lapid, the party’s founder and leader, believes the age should be 18 like all other Israelis.
What’s the difference between the two proposals – or, for that matter, between drafting haredim at 18 or drafting haredim at any older age?
A ton of money – hundreds of millions of shekels every year.
Ha’aretz explains:
The total cost of an average IDF conscript – including direct and indirect expenses such as salary, food, transportation and lodging – is about NIS 4,000 a month, according to sources involved in the debate. The total cost of a soldier in the Nahal Haredi battalion, which is primarily for ultra-Orthodox soldiers drafted at age 18, is slightly higher, at about NIS 4,670 per month. That extra NIS 670 per month is attributed to costs for specially supervised kosher food and religious services such as a mobile synagogue for soldiers in the field.
In contrast, the IDF incurs much higher costs for Haredim serving in the Shahar program, which is targeted at ultra-Orthodox men between the ages of 22 and 26. Participants of the Shahar program have shorter military service terms, study academic subjects and receive vocational training. These soldiers cost the IDF an average of NIS 9,500 per month – NIS 5,500 a month more than the average IDF conscript.
The main reason Shahar participants cost so much more than their counterparts in the Nahal Haredi battalion is that these older soldiers are usually married with families. Soldiers with families, regardless of their religious status or affiliation, receive special salary supplements and food coupons from the IDF, based on the number of children they have. Shahar soldiers have an average of two to three children each at the time of service, sometimes more.…