Special to WorldTribune.com

JERUSALEM — Israel’s efforts to draft Orthodox Jewish students for the military have fallen short.

A government panel reported a 39 percent increase in the draft of so-called ultra-Orthodox, or Haredi, recruits in 2013. But the committee said the increase fell far short of government plans for massive enlistment from the fastest growing Jewish community in Israel.

“In light of the fact that enlistment goals were not met, negative economic measures could be implemented against the relevant seminaries,” Science Minister Yaakov Peri said.

In 2013, the Knesset passed legislation to make all Jews eligible for military conscription. The new law, which focused on Orthodox Jews, did not revise the exemption of Israel’s Arab community, about 20 percent of the population.

Since July 2013, some 2,000 Haredi young men registered with the military, up from 1,416 during the previous year. Of the recruits, 40 percent selected combat service. The law, however, called for the draft of 3,800 Orthodox seminary students in 2014 and 4,500 in 2015.

Officials said the failure to meet the law’s quota could prompt a crackdown on draft-dodgers. But they said the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was expected to avoid a confrontation with the Haredi community amid the growing prospect of early elections.

Orthodox politicians have accused the government of seeking to break apart the community. They said the military has refused to expand its special battalion for Haredim, which features special food as well as weekly rabbinical lectures.

  Haredi, IDF, Israeli military falls far short of recruitment goals for ultra-Orthodox students, Yaakov Peri