Full text: IDF chief’s letter to Netanyahu, Katz against freezing Haredi enlistment

On July 12, 2026, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir sent a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Israel Katz, and Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chair Boaz Bismuth, expressing strong opposition to a bill that would freeze Haredi enlistment and establish an IDF committee to examine yeshiva student status. Zamir stated the bill would not increase military personnel but rather incentivize avoiding service, creating a “deep rift with those in the service arm, who have carried the burden of combat for some two and a half years.” He cited three main objections to the proposed committee: damage to the legitimacy and trust of serving soldiers, the IDF’s lack of professional expertise for such examinations, and the diversion of critical attention and manpower during ongoing warfare. Zamir urged the removal of the committee mechanism from the bill.