The Israeli army revealed on 21 August that only about 70 ultra-Orthodox Jewish men reported to military induction centers since Tel Aviv issued the first batch of draft orders to the Haredi sector last month in a bid to overcome its manpower woes.

“Warning that those who repeatedly ignore invitations could face arrest, the IDF said that those who did not report on Wednesday as expected will be called again at a future date,” the Times of Israel reported.

The army added that only seven Haredi men showed up at induction centers on Wednesday.

Draft orders began going out last month after the High Court of Justice ruled that ultra-Orthodox men eligible for service must be drafted into the military. Previously, the Haredim avoided conscription by enrolling in yeshivas and obtaining repeated one-year service deferrals until they reached the age of military exemption.

Haaretz previously reported that 6,000 ultra-Orthodox men are expected to receive draft notices. The army previously said it could draft 3,000 out of 67,000 eligible Haredim (the equivalent of five military divisions).

In response to the draft orders, the Haredi community has held several protests, saying they would rather “die before enlisting.” On Wednesday, around 100 Haredim clashed with Israeli police in occupied Jerusalem.

Protesters were seen blocking a street near a military base and clashing with police officers who tried to disperse them. In one scene, one of the protesters was heard calling the police “Nazis.”

In the days after the High Court ruling, Rabbi Dov Lando, leader of the Lithuanian ultra-Orthodox community in Israel, lashed out at the Israeli judicial system after it eliminated the military exemption for the ultra-Orthodox, saying that the courts had “declared war against the world of Torah.”

The attempt to draft thousands of Haredim into service comes as the Israeli army faces a severe manpower crisis after 10 months of its genocidal war on Gaza. Earlier this week, the army announced plans to recall 15,000 Israelis up to age 35 who had previously completed mandatory military service starting at age 18.