IDI analysis shows National-Religious men driving shift in IDF reserve duty as overall numbers fall
Among other key findings, it was found that National-Religious men are increasingly over-represented in IDF reserve service in relation to their share of Israel's population.
The Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) published a report analyzing IDF reserve service by religious identification during the Israel-Hamas War. The data, sourced from Central Bureau of Statistics Labor Force Survey from 2023 to 2025, revealed significant shifts in the distribution of reservists.
Notably, National-Religious men significantly overrepresented in IDF reserve service compared to their population share. Their participation increased from the war's onset until 2025, while secular men's participation decreased the most among all groups. Despite this, secular men still comprise the largest proportion of reservists on a monthly average basis.
Haredim were notably absent from reserve duty, with only 0.3% of Haredi men taking part. Overall, participation in reserve duty declined year by year across all groups.
The analysis found National-Religious men to be extremely likely to serve in reserves, with 31% serving by 2025, despite only making up 15% of Israel's demographic makeup - more than twice their population representation. In contrast, 2.6% of traditional men, 1.7% of secular men, and 0.3% of Haredi men served on average monthly.
Women's IDF reserve participation rates also saw changes. Between 2023 and 2024, women's participation was lower than men's, though they still represented about 13.5% of all reservists on average monthly. Contrary to reports, secular and traditional women were overrepresented relative to their populations, with 2.0% and 1.6% respectively serving monthly. Religious women, however, served at a smaller proportion to their civilian population at just 0.7%.
High-tech sector workers had the highest percentage leaving the workforce for reserve duty in 2023 at 16.5%, compared to 15% in business and 9.4% in the public sector. By 2025, high-tech employees' participation dropped to the lowest rate among the three sectors at 2.3%, while business and public sectors' rates were 3.1% and 2.6% respectively. Rural religious men were more likely to participate than urban secular men, but little difference existed when comparing rural and urban secular men.
Written by urgent.news from Jerusalem Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
