Posted on 03/31/24
| News Source: Arutz-7
Central Command commander Major General Yehuda Fuchs has compiled a plan for protecting towns in Judea and Samaria with teams of Charedi yeshiva students who will not need to be formally enlisted into the IDF.
According to Yediot Ahronot, the process will allow more soldiers to focus on other tasks, and if successful, would be enacted in other commands as well.
The plan proposes to establish a network to defend towns under the authority of the Defense Ministry which will be responsible for defending towns and civilian centers. The network will be mainly staffed by haredim otherwise intended for IDF service, and be considered an alternative to IDF service.
As of today, towns in Judea and Samaria are protected on a regular basis by their civilian security squads and coordinators. Since the war broke out, they have been joined by regional defense platoons of reservist soldiers. The smallest such town is defended by just sixteen soldiers. Larger or more threatened towns are protected by as many as sixty soldiers.
The IDF understands that after the war, there will be a need to significantly increase the defensive measures in Judea and Samaria and not leave them defended only by the civilian security squads and coordinators. They are considering using yeshiva students for that purpose.
General Fox proposes to have haredi guards report to towns on a daily basis, in dedicated busses, and stand guard for several shifts. It is estimated that properly running such a program will take approximately 7000 students. Their training would be equivalent to that of IDF infantry and carried out in a specially establishes academy. The command structure would be made of IDF veterans and officers specially assigned to the program.