Israeli army to form ultra-religious commando unit

The Israeli military is planning to establish a front-line infantry unit composed exclusively of ultra-Orthodox Jewish men, according to local media. What is reportedly slated to be an "elite" company, is part of the army's contingency plan to draft thousands of strictly observant troops next year, pending governmental approval, the Ha' aretz daily said. In February, the Supreme Court struck down the decade-old Tal Law, which exempted draft-aged religious seminary students from compulsory military service, ruling that it discriminated against secular and traditionally religious Israelis who shoulder the burden of years in uniform. The court ordered its expiration by Aug. 1. The army's preparations to enlist the first batch of ultra- Orthodox conscripts in November, however, were postponed when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday called for early elections, which have been set for Jan. 22 of next year. Army sources said that implementing the special religious draft now will require a new government cabinet and legislation, and that the first batch of such conscripts are expected to don fatigues no sooner than March, 2013. Earlier this week, however, Defense Minister Ehud Barak instructed the army to send draft notices to some 15,000 ultra- Orthodox men aged 17 to 19, ordering them to report to induction centers for initial processing. A small percentage of them will eventually serve in the commando unit, which is slated to operate within a tank brigade. The unit would recruit personnel from among outstanding members of an already-existing strictly-religious infantry battalion, established in 1999. In addition to the new commando unit, the army's Personnel Directorate is working on finding suitable postings for thousands of other religious draftees. Military sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that implementing the special draft would entail considerable costs, such as buying special food that meets particularly stringent kashrut standards, setting aside separate facilities within existing bases, and paying larger monthly stipends to recruits with families. Plans call for assigning the troops to infantry units, the Artillery Corps, as technical specialists in the Air Force, and to a nonconventional warfare company to be set up in the Engineering Corps.