Haredi

Haredi conscription debate threatens long-standing Israeli coalitions - opinion

Ultra-Orthodox parties face mounting political backlash as Israel’s war strains the reserve system and coalition stability.

 Ultra-Orthodox Jews clash with police outside the IDF Recruitment Center at Tel Hashomer, central Israel, April 28, 2025
 THE NEW ‘ohel’ built over the grave of the Baal Shem Tov.

Inside the sacred resting place of the Baal Shem Tov in Medzhybizh

PRIME MINISTER Benjamin Netanyahu speaks alongside former Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban in Budapest last year. Orban transformed Hungary into a quasi-autocracy, while Netanyahu has not achieved the same in Israel, the writer says.

Are new Knesset proposals pushing Israel toward Hungary-style governance? - opinion

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men protest against the jailing of seminary students who failed to comply with an army recruitment order outside the home of Military Police commander Brig. Gen. Yuval Yamin in Ashkelon, May 14, 2026.

Ultra-Orthodox protesters attempt to invade military police chief's home


NY postal worker arrested for shoving four-year-old hassidic boy to the ground

Video footage showed the boy approaching the mail truck before the postal worker came out and forcefully knocked the child to the ground. 

A view of USPS trucks after a day of heavy snowfall on February 23, 2026 in New York City.

Netanyahu could call early elections as wartime success influences political strategy - interview

The timing of the elections will “heavily depend” on the results of the war and can cause the date to be moved up, said Prof. Gideon Rahat, a senior fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the nation amid Israeli strike on Iranian regime targets on March 7, 2026.

Female IDF soldiers barred from entering base on religious grounds - report

The soldiers, some seven officers and reservists, all in uniform, were met by commanders from the ultra-Orthodox Netzach Yehuda battalion who forbade them from entering.

FEMALE IDF field intelligence collection soldiers S, D, and V in the Syrian buffer zone.

WATCH: IRGC-linked media shares propaganda video using Lego, blaming Israel-US for Minab school

Iran’s Revayat-e Fath institute's propaganda video uses Lego models to blame Israel and the US for the Minab strike and shows "retaliatory" attacks on Cyprus, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Iraq.

IRGC propaganda showing officers planning missile launches towards Tel Aviv, created using Lego, March 10, 2026.

High Court: State’s haredi draft enforcement update ‘does not satisfy’ amid Iran war tensions

“In these pressing times, today’s hearing was canceled,” the court wrote. “But the need to enforce the obligation of military enlistment is steadily increasing.” 

A COURT hearing on the government’s draft of ultra-Orthodox Jews into the Israeli military at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem, October 29, 2025.

Grapevine: Shira Banki's Way

Movers and shakers in Israeli society.

A person takes a photo of a memorial sign showing the image of Shira Banki, an Israeli teenager who was stabbed during the 2015 Jerusalem Pride Parade, during the 21st annual Jerusalem Pride Parade in Jerusalem on June 1, 2023.

Zamir appoints two new Brig.-Gens., including IDF's first haredi affairs advisor

Emuna will directly coordinate with all branches and directorates in the IDF to better advance and expand the service of haredi soldiers.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir held an appointment ceremony for two newly promoted Brigadier-Generals: Avinoam Emunah (L), Shai Siman-Tov, February 24, 2026.

A-G to High Court: Gov’t has not adopted economic sanctions plan against haredi draft dodgers

The Attorney-General warned the High Court that the government failed to plan for revoking benefits from Haredi draft evaders, despite data showing financial sanctions increased enlistment rates.

 Ultra-Orthodox Jews clash with police outside the IDF Recruitment Center at Tel Hashomer, central Israel, April 28, 2025

Netanyahu’s coalition threatens Jewish unity with law banning pluralistic Kotel prayers - opinion

Under the bill, anyone who publicly leads or engages in prayer contrary to the Rabbinate’s directive would face up to seven years in jail.

A Jewish woman covered in a white prayer shawl prays in front of the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City, during the Jewish holiday of Passover, April 2, 2018

Thousands of kosher phone lines blocked, affecting half a million haredim - report

"The authority to determine the blocking of lines known as "Kosher Lines" is vested in the Rabbinical Committee for Communications Affairs," Rami Levy Communications stated.

A haredi man speaking on his kosher phone in Jerusalem on February 23, 2026.