While the debate over Haredi conscription continues to tear Israeli society apart, a new report surfaces an equally broad question: What happens when the very society at the center of the debate over sharing the burden begins to integrate in growing numbers into one of the economy's most important growth engines?

"The Haredi Tech Report 2026", a comprehensive and first-of-its-kind study by Tel Aviv University, the TATYA Foundation, and the Kama-Tech organization, presents a dramatic figure: The rate of young Haredim aged 25–35 working in tech has tripled within a decade, from about 2% to about 6%. Concurrently, the number of Haredim in the sector rose from about 8,500 employees in 2016 to about 12,750 employees in 2024.

On the face of it, this is a success story. High-tech, which currently accounts for about 19.7% of the national product, manages to attract more and more workers from Haredi society. But beneath the surge hides a far more complex picture: Haredi integration into the sector occurs primarily through women, while the rate of Haredi men has barely budged.

According to the report, the rate of young Haredi women employed in tech jumped by 77% over the past decade, from 3.1% in 2014 to 5.5% in 2023. This is a growth 23% higher than what can be attributed to natural demographic increase in the population.

The same trend is also evident in training pathways. Between the years 2018–2021, there was a jump of about 45% in the number of Haredi students studying tech professions in academia, and today they number about 14,700 students. However, here too, a clear majority of the learners are women: 67% of the Haredi students in tech professions are female students. Additionally, a 37% increase was recorded in enrollment in technological engineering tracks.

In other words, Haredi society is entering tech, but not uniformly. Those leading the move are primarily Haredi women, who succeed in integrating into training pathways, technological positions, and an industry considered one of the central locomotives of the Israeli economy.

Conversely, among Haredi men, the picture is almost frozen. The rate of Haredi men working in tech rose over the past decade from 0.9% to 1.1% only. This is perhaps one of the most important figures in the report: While the discourse speaks of "Haredim in tech," in practice a significant part of the sector is still barely part of the revolution.

One of the main warning signs in the report is the wage gap between Haredi workers and non-Haredi Jews in tech, which stands at about 57%. In 2019, Haredi women earned on average about NIS 93 per hour, among other reasons because many of them integrated into support roles, QA, technical services, or outsourcing, and less into core and development roles.

According to the study, the main barriers to the full integration of Haredi society into the sector are the lack of core studies and digital literacy at a young age, late entry into the labor market due to the "society of learners" model among Haredi men, lack of professional networks, soft skill gaps, as well as concerns and biases on the part of employers.

Dr. Nechumi Yaffe from Tel Aviv University says that "The study we conducted shines a spotlight on one of the unique populations in Israeli society and on the manner of their integration into the most central sector in the country's economy, which is the tech sector." According to her, "There is a desire on the part of many in the population, and there is progress, and alongside this, many barriers that delay the integration of the Haredi population into the growth engine of tech." Yaffe adds that "The Haredim, and especially Haredi women, see value in working in tech fields, even if they are not yet in key and core roles."

The report, which was submitted to the President of the State, Isaac Herzog, at a special event marking a decade of Kama-Tech's activity, presents the integration of Haredim in tech not only as a social goal, but as a macroeconomic necessity.

According to the report, over the past decade, about 200 Haredi startups were established in Israel, and Haredi entrepreneurs currently account for 5–9% of all applications to receive development grants from the Innovation Authority.

Moshe Friedman, CEO of Kama-Tech, says that "For a decade, Kama-Tech has been accompanying Haredi men and women toward training and integration into various roles in the Israeli tech industry." According to him, "We work together with the Haredi public on one hand, and with the large technology companies on the other hand, and as the data shows, and as we feel in the field, there are results, thank God. But of course there is still room for improvement."