In case you come across this article in "Yated Ne’eman" that tries to argue that it’s not worth it for the state to draft Haredim, pay attention to the trick:
The author calculates how much it costs the IDF to maintain a married Haredi soldier, discovers that he’s more expensive than a regular soldier, and arrives at the astonishing conclusion that maybe it’s actually worth it for the state to leave the Haredim in yeshiva.
Just one small thing is missing from the calculation:
what happens when there’s no Haredi soldier?
Someone else has to serve in his place.
According to data presented in the Knesset, every additional 1,000 Haredi combatants can save the need for about 6,000 reservists over the course of the year. And the chief economist at the Treasury estimated a month of reserves at about 48,000 shekels in cost to the economy and an additional month of a regular soldier at about 27,000 shekels.
In fact, according to the Treasury’s calculation, drafting about 10,000 Haredim instead of extending service for others could save the economy about 6.7 billion shekels over three years of service.
And this is even before factoring in the possible impact of service on Haredi men entering the workforce and their productivity.
Of course, one can argue that a married Haredi soldier is more expensive for the IDF. That’s true in some cases. But presenting only his cost and completely ignoring the cost of whoever is required to serve in his place is not economics.
It’s simply a very creative way to arrive at the conclusion you already knew you wanted to reach.
In short, kudos for the creativity, and try harder next time.
4 comments:
R' Chatzkel Levenstein brings a raaya in his sefer on Chumash from shevet Levi that bnei Torah don't shter the economy. Nobel Economics Laureate Milton Friedman takka examined the Israeli economy & said it's the only one in the world that survives sheloi al pi derech hateva
5:39
With all due respect bringing Rav Levenstein's "raaya"when he died in 1974!
The Frum population at his death was roughly 4% of Israel's population; today in 2026 it is 14%!
This is not sustainable and the entire Chardeie population with few exceptions is built on not educating their children or training them to make a living and support their large families.
And I'm glad you brought this up
Charedie men are vastly underemployed, and even those who are employed are generally in low-wage jobs. With a few hi-tech exceptions, the women are, on average, employed in far lower-paying professions. Consequently, charedim pay far less taxes than everyone else - and meanwhile, they receive all kinds of welfare benefits.
As a result, whereas the average non-charedi family puts far more into the economy than they remove, the average charedi family removes far more than they put in. These are simple and obvious facts.
You can see the raw data at https://www.boi.org.il/media/fnffif5h/vol-231-2025-3.pdf.
There is no comparison anywhere in the world to a community which sets an OFFICIAL UNIVERSAL POLICY of its men having no general studies education and not working for a living, while also raising large families to do exactly the same, and expecting everyone else to support them (and fight to defend them), and then organizing a political bloc to make this happen on a massive scale.
After all the Tzioni bellyaching that Charedim are a bunch of Schnorrers from Medinah taxpayers, Satmar steps in with private funding yet the Tzionim try to stop their generosity!
Tzionim don't "bellyache"; they work to support their families, and they serve in the army.
This is a publicity stunt; it is a mere 200 shekels that couldn't feed one person a day!
This is not "generosity"; it's making choizik from their own poor.
It is against the law to pay people not to vote in the USA as well in Israel. Satmar shventz have no problem breaking the law with their puny, pathetic stunt that no one is buying!
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