The IDF is advancing a new initiative intended to better incorporate ultra-Orthodox youths serving in the army. The plan aims to enable yeshiva soldiers to study in a kollel (an institute for full-time advanced study of the Talmud and rabbinic literature) in the evenings, in addition to receiving financial grants from the government.

The initiative's purpose is to assist religious soldiers who enlist through the Shahar ("Dawn") recruitment program, in their transition from the yeshiva lifestyle to the practical world. The initiative's pilot program will consist of 15 soldiers.

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An IDF source confirmed that the program will not be funded by the military, and said that the initiative will better help incorporate the shahar soldiers into the military. The army will provide the students with a proper synagogue to study in and a military rabbi.

"The IDF is organizing different activities in order to better incorporate yeshiva soldiers into the military. This further proves that the military treats its soldiers equally, and recent talk of any wrongdoing towards yeshiva soldiers is untrue," he added.