Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the IDF’s Hashmonaim Brigade in the Jordan Valley, where Haredi soldiers greeted him with singing as Boaz Bismuth and senior military adviser Avinoam Emunah looked on.

Netanyahu used the visit to send a clear message into one of Israel’s most explosive political debates: “Whoever is not studying Torah must enlist.” He added that when a Haredi man joins the IDF, he must have the right “to enter as Haredi and leave as Haredi,” framing the brigade as the bridge between Torah life and military service.

The timing is sensitive. His remarks come amid growing unrest around Haredi draft enforcement, including protests by extremist factions over arrests of draft evaders and fresh political pressure from Haredi leaders. Netanyahu praised the soldiers as modern-day Hashmonaim, saying Israel is still fighting on seven fronts and that victory depends not only on weapons and technology, but on spirit.

The Hashmonaim Brigade is the IDF’s first Haredi combat brigade, built around full infantry service while preserving a strict Haredi lifestyle. Its 613th Battalion has already completed a battalion-level exercise, including urban warfare, open-terrain combat, drones, sniping and other combat training adapted to its soldiers’ way of life.

Bismuth called the base “a real revolution,” saying Torah and the IDF, “the two greatest values,” are being fused there in uniform. For Netanyahu, the message was sharper: the model is no longer theory. It is now standing in formation.