The Bank of Israel has warned of economic damage if more ultra-Orthodox Jewish men do not join the country’s military, weighing in on a contentious issue that has caused a rift in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wartime government, Reuters reports.

In its 2023 annual report, the central bank said Israel’s fighting against Hamas had highlighted the personnel needs of the military and has added a burden to the economy due to the sharply increased amount of service days that will be required for both conscripts and reserve soldiers.

This, it said, impairs the soldiers’ economic output as well as the spouse’s employment. “As the burden of military service is divided among a higher number of soldiers … the economic impact on each of them declines, as does the aggregate impact on the economy,” the Bank of Israel said.

“Expanding the circle of military personnel to include the ultra-Orthodox population….will therefore make it possible to answer the increasing defence needs while moderating the impact to personnel and to the economy.”