Fact-Checkers Correct Previous Ruling on Cost of Haredi Draft Exemption

A fact-checking initiative has corrected its previous assessment regarding the financial cost of the ultra-Orthodox community's exemption from military service. Initially, the fact-checkers had rated a statement by opposition leader Yair Lapid as "correct," estimating the cost to be approximately 1,420 shekels per month per working family. This initial calculation was based on a broader figure of 14.9 billion shekels annually, which included costs associated with the ultra-Orthodox community's lower labor force participation, not solely draft evasion.

Following a request for review by Knesset Member Yitzhak Pindrus, the fact-checkers re-examined their methodology. They discovered that their initial calculation incorrectly conflated the costs of draft evasion with broader economic integration issues and had also applied the cost to a narrower demographic than Lapid's original statement implied. The revised analysis, based on research from the Israel Democracy Institute, isolates the direct cost of draft exemption.

This direct cost is now calculated at 3.8 billion shekels per year. When divided among approximately 2.2 million working families in Israel, this amounts to a monthly cost of about 144 shekels per family. The fact-checkers apologized for their initial error and thanked MK Pindrus for bringing the discrepancy to their attention. Lapid's original claim, made in a radio interview, stated that every working family pays 1,700 shekels monthly due to draft evasion, a figure for which he did not provide supporting evidence at the time.