Globes Corrects Report on Cost of Haredi Draft Evasion

Israeli business daily Globes has issued a significant correction to a May report concerning the economic cost of draft evasion by the Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) community. The initial report, published by Globes' "The Whistleblower" section, examined a statement by opposition leader Yair Lapid claiming that "every working family in the country pays 1,700 shekels every month for draft evasion." Globes' initial analysis calculated this figure at approximately 1,420 shekels per month and largely validated Lapid's claim.

However, following an inquiry from Knesset Member Yitzhak Pindrus, Globes re-examined its data and acknowledged two substantial errors that led to a significant inflation of the original figure. The first error involved the base sum used for the calculation. The initial report relied on a figure of 14.9 billion shekels from a study by the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI). This sum, however, included costs related to the Haredi community's non-integration into the workforce, not solely the cost of draft evasion. The IDI clarified that the direct cost of non-conscription for Haredim is 3.8 billion shekels annually, broken down into 1.4 billion for exemptions for Haredi women, 1.9 billion for men, and 500 million for lack of reserve duty.

The second error was in the distribution of the cost. Lapid referred to "every working family," but Globes' initial calculation divided the cost only among the top four income deciles of non-Haredi Jews. The corrected calculation distributed the 3.8 billion shekel annual cost among approximately 2.2 million households with at least one employed member.

This revised calculation dramatically reduced the monthly cost per working household to 144 shekels, a stark contrast to the initial 1,420 shekels and Lapid's 1,700 shekels. Consequently, Globes changed its assessment of Lapid's statement from "correct" to "incorrect." Globes apologized to its readers for the error and thanked MK Pindrus for bringing it to their attention.