IDF enlistment data for the 2024 draft, which actually reflects the 2002 to 2003 birth cohorts, show major differences across Israeli school systems. The figures are normalized by the number of 12th-grade students in each school in 2021, and the analysis is based on a “cutoff year” at ages 21 to 22 so it can include those who enlist later because of pre-army programs, yeshiva study, or late exits from ultra-Orthodox yeshivas. The data came from an access-to-information request by the Freedom of Information Movement.
The broad picture is that secular schools in central Israel enlist at very high rates, especially in the center, and also send many to combat service. But the strongest combat rates belong to national-religious men, while secular women are the largest female enlistment pool. The biggest decline, and the clearest outlier, is the ultra-Orthodox sector, where enlistment remains extremely low and has not improved.
Among ultra-Orthodox men, the official enlistment rate is about 11.7%, but that is likely an overestimate because the IDF data include only recognized institutions. If schools not counted by the IDF are assumed to produce no soldiers, the real rate falls to 7.9%. In mainstream yeshivot such as Orhot Torah in Bnei Brak, just 1.7% enlist. In large girls’ schools such as Beit Yaakov, enlistment is zero. Some subgroups serve more, notably Chabad and Sephardi schools, and rates are higher in mixed cities than in strictly ultra-Orthodox ones.
In the secular sector, more than 90% of graduates from state schools in Tel Aviv enlist, and kibbutz and moshav graduates reach 94%. Among male secular conscripts from the center, 43% go into combat, the same share as secular men from the periphery. Schools such as Ironi Yud in Tel Aviv, Rothberg in Ramat Hasharon, and Yachad in Modiin stand out. Modiin, founded for career servicemen, has especially high enlistment and combat rates. The gap in officer production remains larger, 7% of male graduates from central state schools become officers, compared with 4% in the periphery.
The most dramatic trend is among women, especially religious women. In state schools, the female combat rate has risen to 14% from 9% in 2018. Among religious women it is 18%, and overall enlistment among religious women has climbed to 30%, with some organizations saying current data already exceed 40%. The highest rates are in central cities and Jerusalem, while the lowest are in settlements. Women from the secular center are the largest absolute group among female fighters. Overall, women now make up about one-fifth of the IDF fighting force. National-religious men enlist at 86.8%, likely an undercount because many yeshiva students enlist later than the data cutoff, and 60% of them serve in combat. In settlements, 75% of those who enlist go combat, the highest share in any group.
