The Times of Israel reported Tuesday on a new initiative from Israeli ultra-Orthodox Jews to volunteer for the IDF.

Yossef, a 40-year-old father of six from Jerusalem who serves as the initiative’s publicity coordinator, told The Times of Israel that the online campaign has garnered 500 volunteers since the ad went online Friday, with new people stepping forward every day.

He estimated that a total of 1,500-2,000 will end up signing on for two possible tracks: a combat track for younger, unmarried men to be trained with new immigrants and to join existing fighting units; and a shorter track for older volunteers, comprising multiple-day basic training followed by a commitment to volunteer in the reserves 12 days a year for five years.

He said senior officers within the military have expressed excitement about the idea. A request to the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit for comment was not answered.

Yossef, an assumed name, told the Times that he and four other yeshiva students were spurred to launch their initiative by the “kidnapping and killing of three Israeli teenagers in June, and IDF Operation Brother’s Keeper.”

Despite this initiative there are still objections in the ultra-Orthodox community to participation in the army. Israeli ultra-Orthodox men had been universally exempt from army service if they were studying in a yeshiva. A court ruling in 2012 ended the exemption and earlier this year the government passed a law that significantly limited the exemption in an effort to ensure “an equal sharing of the national burden.” Though the stated goal of the legislation was to integrate the ultra-Orthodox into society it alienated many in the insular community. Yossef’s initiative indicates that there are pockets within the ultra-Orthodox community who are more favorably inclined to interact with the broader Israeli society.

This effort could be viewed as a function of unity within Israeli society as evidenced by the high level of support the government has seen in recent polling.

[Photo: נצח יהודה / YouTube ]