Israel's spy agency, the Mossad, recently welcomed its first ultra-Orthodox recruit, Israel Hayom has learned.
According to the new recruit's case officers, the haredi man successfully passed the screening process and is now working in a classified and highly sensitive capacity that will "greatly impact on the state's future."
A second ultra-Orthodox candidate is also expected to join the spy agency soon. The 22-year-old, identified only as M., belongs to the Lithuanian stream of ultra-Orthodox Judaism.
"I would like to congratulate the organization for welcoming national service volunteers and letting them contribute as much as they can, in consideration of their skills, to society and to the state," Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Uri Ariel, who oversees Israel's national service program, said after meeting M.
According to the National-Civic Service Authority, efforts to recruit more haredim have borne fruit in recent years. There are currently four senior haredi police officers who began their law-enforcement careers as volunteers, in addition to 61 haredi volunteers in the Israel Police.
Likewise, the Israel Fire and Rescue Services have integrated 43 haredi volunteers and the Israel Prison Service has 31 haredi volunteers. One volunteer joined the Israeli Witness Protection Authority. Other volunteers are in various other agencies, including intelligence and cyber agencies as well as various emergency response services.
"There is a quiet revolution underway," national service program director Sar Shalom Jerbi said, describing a major attitude shift among the haredi community. "Currently there are 1,600 haredi volunteers in a variety of units and agencies. The civilian-security service track was launched four years ago, and as a result, haredi youths save the lives of hundreds of people on a daily basis."
Jerbi said that the growing number of haredi volunteers has not been lost on certain radicals within the ultra-Orthodox population, who strongly oppose the integration of ultra-Orthodox men into the general Israeli population.
"Some volunteers still take off their uniforms before they head home," Jerbi said. "We had a volunteer coordinator who had to ward off protesters near his home on the day of his daughter's wedding."
Jerbi revealed that he has also faced threats because of his job. "My driver is required to have a gun in his home and I have a special panic button. There was a time when I was the target of a public campaign against me."
Jerbi said that the very fact that haredi volunteers join the Mossad will help the entire volunteer apparatus make inroads into the defense establishment. "We are working at full speed to open additional slots for volunteers," he said.
