New Hareidim Must Offer More Than “Integration”

A new Hareidi political movement can do more than negotiate its place in Israel. Project Crown offers a starting point for rethinking citizenship, service and the country’s future.

Just over three years ago, I sat with a Hareidi person who is now seeking a seat in the Knesset. I was told that “Hareidim want to integrate so that they can also have two cars and foreign holidays.”

After picking myself off the floor and straightening my sheitel, I explained that, as a Cambridge graduate and a commercial and hi-tech lawyer, I meet non-Hareidi Israelis all the time. If aspiring Hareidi leaders imagine that two cars and foreign holidays are the typical rewards enjoyed by Israelis who serve in the army, their vision is astonishingly—and pathetically—ill-informed.

I have no objection to professional achievement or financial security. But the political horizon for a new generation of Hareidim must extend beyond the comfortable life they imagine everyone else enjoys. Will this new movement simply seek a better deal for its own constituency, or help build a better Israeli society?

Sectoral politics with a new face?

Debates among non-Hareidim about conscription, employment, education, public funding and Torah study often assume that Israel, sans Hareidim, would be a functioning paradise—and that Hareidim need only be shown the way. I believe that the new Hareidim are giving too much credibility to this opinion.

A movement that replaces demands for exemptions and protected budgets with demands for jobs, housing and opportunity, without scrutinizing how resources and power are distributed, has merely changed the terms of the bargain—not the political culture.

We Hareidim have legitimate interests, like every constituency. But political responsibility begins when representatives look beyond their own voters and consider the needs of the whole country.

Six hundred thousand people—and then what?

Take the mayor of Bet Shemesh’s public plan to build 100,000 fifty-five square-meter apartments for couples with four children bringing the city’s population to 600,000 within two decades. (Source: https://chat.whatsapp.com/E22SX203Qau109RpJvdBEZ)  Why doesn’t this plan prompt the new Hareidi political leaders to ask: where will the schools, teachers, hospitals, doctors, transport, jobs and public services come from? What will it cost—and what might have to be sacrificed elsewhere to pay for it?

What would such demographic growth mean for Israel as a whole?

Continued concentration in the center will strain already overburdened infrastructure and draw investment and planning resources away from the periphery. In the North, where I live, communities need housing, transport, jobs, educational institutions and a new hospital.

Political maturity is not measured by how many people a constituency can bring into one city, but by whether its leaders can explain how their decisions benefit the country as a whole. Playing politics is one thing; governing is another.

New Models

Making “integration” mean “becoming more like non-Hareidi Israelis” has consequences for everyone. It puts beyond question the very model into which Hareidim are expected to integrate, rather than allowing it to be scrutinized—and, if necessary, replaced.

Instead of promising “two cars and foreign holidays” for all Hareidim or 600,000 new residents in the center of the country as planned by the “mainstream” Hareidim, the new movement should ask a more fundamental question: what kind of society should Israelis build? It should offer new ways of thinking about religion and state, individual citizenship and collective identity, and military power and civilian life—not merely a more economically integrated version of the existing, poorly functioning system.

From conscription to demilitarisation

In my article “Has Israel’s Security Model Become Its Weakness?”, I proposed a system in which military and civilian service would be equal in duration, with reserve duty required of both; deferrals would be available to everyone under regulated conditions; and civilian service would become a serious national institution.

Here I present the second part of that model: taking the reported ₪3.2 billion the IDF spends each year on soldiers’ release grants and deposits (Source: the Knesset website) and redirecting these funds towards immediate opportunities in the periphery linked to military or civilian service. Rather than treating service as an obligation enforced through future rewards and penalties, Project Crown would connect it to rebuilding the country after war, developing the periphery and strengthening civilian life for all citizens—regardless of cultural or religious identity—and during their Service.

I call this proposal Project Crown because “netel” (“burden”) is a word that inspires no one.

Under Project Crown, the call-up letter currently sent by the Defense Ministry to citizens aged 16–17 would be replaced by a letter from the Housing Ministry, completed as part of the application for an Israeli identity card:

___________________________________________________________________________

PROJECT CROWN

A Conscription Plan to Rehabilitate Us from War

Housing Opportunity

Dear Citizen,

As part of the Housing Ministry’s long-term plan to rehabilitate the country after war, young citizens are being offered housing in the northern and southern peripheries, together with their partners and children, while they undertake military or civilian service in their communities.

The earliest that you may take up this offer will be within six months after your 18th birthday; the latest that you may take up this offer will be within six months after your 26th birthday.

How to Preserve this Housing Opportunity for a Later Date (“Deferral”)

At this stage, you need only enter your personal details on the attached FORM A1 and return it in the pre-stamped, addressed envelope. Alternatively, FORM A1 is available at shikun.gov.il/keter-rishum/english.

Submitting FORM A1 will allow you to pursue academic studies, travel abroad, volunteer, study religious studies, marry or enter the labor market without interference from military police, National Insurance officers or border controls.

FORM A1 will be sent to you every year until you run out of deferrals (between your 25th and 26th birthdays).

How to Activate this Housing Opportunity

To activate this Housing Opportunity when you turn 18, or at any time before your deferrals run out, visit shikun.gov.il/keter-giyus/english and complete FORMS A1 and A2, following the instructions for medical profiling.

Please note that even after your profile has been determined:

• • • • The opportunity to choose between Military Service and Civilian Service in return for the Housing Opportunity is still available;
      • The opportunity for deferral is still available, unless you have run out of deferrals.

Civilian Service

• • • • Civilian Service is open to all citizens who are also eligible for Military Service.
      • Civilian Service replaces the former National Service (sherut leumi). It will operate through existing programs and community organisations (such as Bat Ami, Yad Sarah, Aminadav and Hatzala), as well as the Ministries of Industry, Agriculture, Education and Health—but not the Prime Minister’s Office or the Ministry of Defense.
      • For reserve duty, citizens in Civilian Service will serve in their chosen field for the same periods and with the same frequency as those in Military Service.

Final Deferral

Between their 25th and 26th birthdays, citizens who have repeatedly deferred service, whether in Israel or abroad, must return to Israel to complete FORMS A1 and A2, including the medical-profiling procedure, in order to access the Housing Opportunity during their Military or Civilian Service.

Exemptions

Citizens who begin Military Service without deferring may postpone activation of the Housing Opportunity until up to six months after their 26th birthday. The duration of the Housing Opportunity will equal the duration of their service.

Citizens who are unfit for Military Service for medical reasons will be exempted from Military Service and will continue along the Civilian Service route.

Citizens who have repeatedly deferred service on the grounds that Torah hi Emunasam (religious learning is their vocation), and can demonstrate continuous full-time study at recognized religious institutions from age 14, will be required to enrol in a bespoke teacher-certification course run by the Ministry of Education, to be completed before the end of their 30th year.

After qualifying, these citizens will begin Civilian Service as teachers and perform reserve duty in that profession. They will be paid at market rates for their service but will not be eligible for the Housing Opportunity.

Citizens who have repeatedly deferred service to pursue Atudaim status (academic study sponsored by the army) must begin Military Service before the end of their 23rd year.

Atudaim will be paid at market rates for their Military Service but will not be eligible for the Housing Opportunity.

New and Existing Housing Opportunities in the Peripheries

Residential areas for singles and couples are being established in the Negev and northern Israel, either within existing agricultural communities or in new developments. These will accommodate military and civilian service personnel and their partners and families, with housing suited to their cultural norms and needs.

For example, housing for Muslims will provide halal food, bathrooms designed to meet Islamic requirements, prayer rooms with running water and study rooms. Service personnel from the relevant communities may be housed in existing Druze, Bedouin and Arab villages in the Negev and the North. These towns will receive investment to bring their educational and socioeconomic standards in line with those of Jewish towns.

Housing for Hareidim will accommodate Shabbat observance and provide prayer and study facilities, kosher mehadrin food, family-purity facilities, ritual immersion pools and educational frameworks for children. Complexes may be newly built or integrated into existing agricultural settlements in the Negev and the North, with investment to bring these communities’ social and economic standards closer to those of towns in central Israel.

Spouses of service personnel are encouraged to work in housing administration and education, and to train and mentor younger or unmarried recruits, including those without a high-school diploma. This work will be treated as Civilian Service.

Local Prospects and Infrastructure

• • • • Housing complexes will be connected to the rest of the country by public transport. Planning for northern sites will be coordinated with existing proposals for a new hospital in the North.
      • The new hospital will help address shortages of nurses and early-childhood care workers, with nursing and early-childhood training colleges included in the hospital complex.

Further Information

For further information about communities in the periphery and local opportunities, see “Housing Opportunities for Service Personnel” on our website.

___________________________________________________________________________

A more motivated military and a stronger civilian society are not opposing goals.

Project Crown does not ignore real security needs. Its core ideas were developed before October 7, the consequences of which have only underscored their urgency. The project draws on four years of research in Israel and comparisons with other countries, examining morale, the effects of older recruits in combat, the number of young recruits who drop out during basic training, and other factors that shape decision-making within the IDF.

Project Crown would reduce reliance on young recruits and help repair the social contract by linking housing and regional development to military and civilian service, rather than relying on the outdated system of post-service grants and deposits.

Project Crown allows young citizens to begin service later, if they wish, or earlier under the existing model. It also offers a route into opportunity for people facing poverty, crime or violence in their communities. The same options would ultimately be available to everyone.

Project Crown would reduce reliance on foreign agricultural labor and recognize education, care, food production and other essential civilian contributions as expressions of patriotism alongside military service.

Project Crown would civilize the Israeli army. Recruits who have already experienced civilian life—even if only six months of making pizzas—would know what an organisation other than a school looks like. They would have some experience of workplace challenges and of making their voices heard, even at the lowest levels of military command.

“Civilizing” the IDF does not mean ignoring threats to Israel. It means resisting endless war and permanent mobilization as the ultimate expressions of what it means to be Israeli.

Investment in civil society saves lives.

A national vision must include all citizens

I call on the new Hareidim to support Project Crown not least because they know what it means to be a minority. They should recognize that the participation, opportunities and treatment of all, including Arabic-speaking Israeli citizens, are integral to any national framework. Meaningful civilian or military service—with the same security checks as for Jewish citizens—must be developed with Arab citizens, not imposed on them, and supported by education, employment and housing that respect their cultural needs.

Crown (“Tagj” in Arabic) envisages investment in Arab, Bedouin and Druze communities to bring their towns towards the educational and socioeconomic standards of Jewish towns. It treats military or civilian service as part of citizenship while recognizing that equal citizenship means more than fulfilling obligations: it also requires fair access to opportunity and public investment.

Israel’s Arabic-speaking citizens are an underused asset in building more constructive regional relationships. Their participation in shaping a national vision could strengthen ties through trade, technology, transport and energy.

Where is the Hareidi geopolitical vision?

I have yet to hear the new Hareidi political voices engage seriously with the economic and geopolitical implications of the India–Middle East–Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) or the possibilities opened by the Abraham Accords. These are not remote foreign-policy issues; they concern the kind of country Israel might become.

IMEC envisages transport, energy and digital links connecting India, the Gulf and Europe, with Haifa and the North potentially serving as Israel’s bridge to the Mediterranean. The Abraham Accords have opened diplomatic and economic relationships with several Arab states. Neither guarantees prosperity nor peace: both depend on political choices, regional stability, investment and progress on difficult conflicts. But both create possibilities worth serious thought.

A political movement concerned with jobs and housing should be considering which industries Israel wants to develop and where future growth should take place. Where are the new Hareidim asking the key geopolitical questions?

• • What could regional trade and transport links mean for Israeli jobs, ports, agriculture, technology, and food and energy security?
  • Could new infrastructure connect the periphery to wider economic networks?
  • What diplomatic choices would make this possible—and could regional cooperation help shift resources from perpetual military mobilization towards civilian life?

The new Hareidim should challenge the assumption that regional politics belongs exclusively to the Prime Minister and the security establishment. Geopolitics shapes public spending, employment and the opportunities available to the next generation. A national political movement must have a view on it.

If Arab Citizens Need Not Be Zionists, Why Must Hareidim Become Zionists 2.0?

Project Crown answers the challenge of turning the civic energy of new political movements—including new Hareidi parties and the energy behind Yoav Segolovitch’s introduction into the Ra’am Party—into a political vision that moves beyond the familiar bargaining between partisan constituencies and the rest of the country.

Rather than becoming “Zionists 2.0”—fitting into the existing framework and aligning with right-wing parties—the new Hareidim should engage with the recently reported comments by Rabbi Dov Lando, one of the most influential figures in the established Hareidi leadership.

In a recording made around a year and a half ago (Source: the Times of Israel), Lando argued that Zionism had made Arabs hate Jews and suggested that Jews might have lived well alongside Arabs without a Jewish state.

I am not suggesting that Rabbi Lando’s remarks amount to a program for civic peace—he has also denounced religious soldiers and the state itself. But they expose a question Israeli politics too often avoids: must Jewish religious identity be tied to the modern Zionist state?

Where is the response of the new Hareidim?

A common civic project can lead towards civil peace

In an earlier article, “The Hareidi Basis for Peace in the Middle East”, I argued that Jewish peoplehood, Am Yisroel, need not be conflated with modern political nationhood, Umas Yisroel. Jewish identity does not require political dominance, and equal citizenship for Israeli Palestinians and other non-Jewish citizens need not diminish it.

The challenge is neither simply to reject Zionism nor to defend it at all costs. It is to develop a positive civic and political vision in which religious freedom, the rights of all citizens and peaceful relations with our neighbors reinforce rather than undermine one another.

These are not abstract theological distinctions. They shape how we distribute power, protect individual rights, understand citizenship and pursue peace. A new Hareidi movement could bring these questions into the political mainstream—not by becoming “Zionists 2.0” or replacing one dogma with another, but by helping Israelis imagine a future that demonstrates that Judaism is not diminished by the waving of a Palestinian flag.

The question facing the new Hareidim is not whether they can “integrate” into a dysfunctional Israel. It is whether they are prepared to help refashion the country, shape its relationship with Arab citizens and neighbors, and secure its place in the region.

Israel does not need another constituency negotiating a better deal within the existing system. It needs citizens willing to question the system’s assumptions and build something better.

For seventy-eight years, Israel has expected young Jews to contribute to the country’s resilience without establishing an equally coherent framework of contribution for all its citizens. Non-Jewish citizens have too often been left at the margins of a system built around Jewish military service, or required to “sit this one out” while the Jews work out who they are and what they want.

It is time to connect contribution to housing, employment, vocational development, regional investment and the transition to adulthood, while recognizing different but equal pathways for citizens with different circumstances and identities.

Project Crown attempts to do this. It offers a common national framework in which military and meaningful civilian service can coexist, and links contribution to opportunity and economic security. It is not simply a response to the conscription dispute; it is an attempt to rethink the social contract.

For years, I have spoken with Hareidi, non-religious and Arabic-speaking citizens about a future that does not erase our differences but makes them compatible with a common civic project.

The need to put this vision into practice has never been more urgent.

Will the new Hareidim dare to become kingmakers—not of another coalition, but of a different Israel, alongside its Arab citizens?