MIDDLE EAST CRISIS
Ultra-orthodox Jews join Israel’s fight against Hamas
Thousands of men from the strict Haredim sect have defied their community’s opposition to military service in the wake of the October 7 attacks
The Haredim’s traditional refusal to undertake military service has long been a source of discord between the community and both secular and modern religious Israelis
MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Each day when he arrives home from work at the Shura army base, Mordechai Porat parks his car, struggles out of his army uniform and pulls on the customary white shirt and black suit of the ultra-orthodox community.
“I can’t walk around Bnei Brak like this, however much they love soldiers, and they do,” Porat explains. “But soldiers can’t be among our own.”
Porat is one of thousands of men from the Haredim, Judaism’s strict, ultra-orthodox Jewish sect, defying their community opposition to military service to join the reserves in the wake of Hamas’s murderous attack on Israel.
Ordinarily, Haredim live a reclusive, almost cult-like life, with strict adherence to the principle of tzniut, a trait of modesty and discretion, and to Jewish law.
