Tel Aviv, July 6 -- The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) said it will begin sending draft summonses this week to complete the recruitment processes for members of the Haredi (ultra-orthodox) community whose status as yeshiva students is no longer valid. A Supreme Court ruling nullified the military deferments yeshiva students have enjoyed for decades as illegal and, in the absence new legislation passed by the Knesset to make Tora study deferments legal, ordered that the practice be ended and the students be drafted.

The summonses are scheduled to be sent in several waves during the month of July until all 54,000 have been completed.

As part of the overall selection and recruitment processes, the IDF said it will continue to focus efforts an...