"Tel Avivians Don't Serve"

True or False?

There is a widespread belief that residents of secular Tel Aviv barely serve in the IDF. Obviously this is something that charedim love to talk about. But it’s not limited to charedim; this belief is widely held across the spectrum.

Now, there are several things that are important to keep in mind. First, even if it were to be true, it would not remotely justify the chareidi lack of participation. Second, secular Israelis who don’t serve still strengthen Israel by building up the economy, unlike charedim who don’t serve and don’t work (or work in low-grade jobs) and drain the economy. Third, secular Israelis who don’t serve are evading service on an individual basis, not as part of an entire systemized way of life.

But in any case, it’s not actually true in the slightest.

Here’s a handy chart from 2019, showing the breakdown of enlistment per city in Israel:

You can click on the image to enlarge it, but I’ll help you out with the bottom line. The average rate of enlistment for towns without any significant charedi (or Arab) population is between 73-91%. For the three towns that are overwhelmingly charedi, the rate of enlistment is 9-12%.

What about Tel Aviv? In 2019, the year depicted in the chart, it was at the lowest end of the range for non-charedi towns. But it was still 73%! Last year, it went up to 82%.

In other words, people in Tel Aviv do not serve in the IDF at the same rate as charedim. They don’t even serve in the IDF twice as much as charedim. They serve in the IDF at nearly ten times the rate of charedim.

So, there’s another piece of charedi propaganda exposed as a sham.