It was recently reported in the ultra-Orthodox press that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) no longer take it at face value when ultra-Orthodox youths say their vocation is to study the Torah, for which they have been customarily considered exempt from military service. The IDF is now checking the authenticity of the claims to find out whether those self-declared yeshiva students are actually studying or seeking to avoid conscription. The IDF is primarily targeting a specific group in the ultra-Orthodox community: yeshiva dropouts dubbed "shabbabniks."

The shabbabniks are teens from ultra-Orthodox families who dropped out of the educational institutions of the community, whether of their own accord or due to external circumstances, and are aimlessly roaming the streets. As a matter of fact, they are no different from their counterparts in society at large, those marginalized youths who dropped out of school. Some of them are working odd Jobs. Others, at least as the stereotype goes, are spending their time having fun, walking the fine line between the permissible and impermissible, bordering on criminal behavior. As one would expect, these youths often get in trouble with the law and find themselves in conflict with the ultra-Orthodox leadership.

Unlike many of those who openly question the tenets on which they have been raised and abandon their religion, leaving the ultra-Orthodox community, the shabbabniks sit on the fence, vacillating between the ultra-Orthodox community and the larger society. Basically, the shabbabniks have no problem with faith. They keep wearing the Jewish traditional skullcap (although they may at times remove it), but their attire is not always in line with ultra-Orthodox conventions — a uniform consisting of a white shirt and black trousers.

Over the years, special yeshiva-like educational institutions have been set up especially for them in Jerusalem and Bnei Brak. After all, it is a rather widespread and quite familiar phenomenon in the ultra-Orthodox sector. Many shabbabniks change direction once they grow up, and after marrying and starting a family, they become full-fledged members of the ultra-Orthodox community.