"These soldiers are eager to serve, have voiced their wish to continue
and integrate, show everyone what they contribute. But a man in uniform
who is treated with hostility by his surroundings – that's completely
unacceptable to us. Fortunately, we haven't heard of any haredi soldier
who wished to terminate his service due to these incidents, just the
opposite."
Haredi Soldiers Meet With Senior Officer To Discuss Haredi Violence Against Them
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
Brigadier General Eli Ben-Aryeh, the chief intelligence officer of the IDF’s Military Intelligence Directorate (MID), met with hundreds of haredi soldiers for the first time to discuss the increasing violence directed against them by their fellow haredim, Ynet reported.
The soldiers serve in MID in technical support roles.
Ben-Aryeh reportedly told the haredi soldiers that the IDF is considering their request to be exempted from wearing IDF uniforms while taking public transportation to return to their neighborhoods and visit their families, friction points where haredi soldiers have been targeted and attacked by fellow haredim.
He also assured the haredi soldiers that their request will be viewed by the IDF as an attempt to minimize friction with extremist haredim in their neighborhoods.
In two weeks a committee of the IDF Manpower Directorate will meet to reconsider the haredi soldiers' petitions asking to be allowed to wear civilian clothes when visiting their families or taking public transportation. When it last met it rejected most of the petitions.
The IDF has also now reportedly referred haredi soldiers to special officers who are available 24 hours a day, to provide assistance to the haredi soldiers if they are harassed or attacked.
A high-ranking MID officer reportedly told Ynet that despite the violence against haredi soldiers, haredi soldiers’ motivation to serve is growing stronger.
"Despite the latest incidents, we're under the impression that motivation among haredi soldiers is growing. A decisive majority is proud to wear the IDF uniform, and we're happy with the increase in the number of recruits to the directorate,” the unnamed officer said.
The MID reportedly has approximately 500 haredi soldiers. 100 of them are officers.
"These soldiers are eager to serve, have voiced their wish to continue and integrate, show everyone what they contribute. But a man in uniform who is treated with hostility by his surroundings – that's completely unacceptable to us. Fortunately, we haven't heard of any haredi soldier who wished to terminate his service due to these incidents, just the opposite,” the unnamed officer reportedly said.