The ceremony had been moved to a closed army base after haredim
threatened to disrupt it. But objections to that move from the haredi
soldiers and recruits themselves, along with widespread public
condemnation of it, caused the IDF to change its mind and return the
ceremony to Ammunition Hill, Israel’s national Six Day War Memorial.
More Than 100 Haredi IDF Recruits Reportedly Sworn In Without Incident
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
More than a 100 recruits to the largely haredi Netzah Yehuda battalion were officially sworn in Sunday in a ceremony held on Amunition Hill in Jerusalem., Ynet reported.
The ceremony had been moved to a closed army base after haredim threatened to disrupt it. But objections to that move from the haredi soldiers and recruits themselves, along with widespread public condemnation of it, caused the IDF to change its mind and return the ceremony to Ammunition Hill, Israel’s national Six Day War Memorial – which was defaced by haredim late last year with anti-Zionist graffiti.
Anticipating potential haredi riots, large police and Border Guard forces were deployed near Ammunition Hill.
After reading their loyaty pledge, the soldiers reportedly shouted three times, "I declare," rather than “I swear” to avoid the ban in halakha (Jewish law) on making oaths.
After the soldiers sang Israel's national anthem, Hatikva, they reportedly sang Ani Ma’amin, a religious song that states, "I believe wholeheartedly in the coming of the messiah.”
Many of the families of the new haredi soldiers attended the ceremony in support of their sons.
Rabbis from the Netzah Yehuda association, the battalion’s founder Yehuda Duvdevani, and Deputy Religious Services Minister Eli Ben Dahan attended, as did members of the haredi Tov movement, which was founded to provide a voice for haredim who work for a living.
The current chairman of the Netzah Yehuda nonprofit that helps the haredi battalion, Rabbi Yoel Schwartz, said that the haredi has little real opposition in the haredi community today.
"Everyone understands how important this is.…The people are one. We are all brothers. We're together," Schwartz said, refusing to comment on the haredi death threats against, assaults on, and shunning of haredi recruits that have become increasingly common all across Israel.