re: #144 lawhawk

Not just that, but the demographics; the orthodox community is growing significantly, while the secular community is not growing as fast, which means that a smaller and smaller portion of the country’s eligible population is serving in the military and it disproportionately falls on the secular Israelis to do military service.

I also remember the Nahal Haredi experiment of 20 years ago. The IDF created a special battalion for ultra-Orthodox soldiers where they would have no female officers or comrades, get fed B’Datz kosher food, etc. My son enlisted in this battalion and it was a very good experience for him.

The reason it was a failure: the Haredi were not particularly politically oriented. The Nahal Haredi exposed them to political ideas, unfortunately many became extremely right-wing (in addition to their religiosity).