Israel’s army must start drafting ultra-orthodox, high court rules
TEL AVIV—Israel’s military must begin drafting ultra-Orthodox Jewish students, the country’s Supreme Court ruled Tuesday, in a decision likely to put pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition as Israel fights its war in Gaza. A unanimous panel of judges ruled that there is no legal basis for exempting ultra-Orthodox religious scholars after a series of laws and government decisions carving out service exemptions were either struck down by the court or expired.
The ruling also blocks government funding for religious students without a valid military exemption, a decision that experts say could affect tens of thousands of current religious students and tens of millions of dollars in funding, raising the political stakes for the two ultra-Orthodox political parties upon which Netanyahu’s thin parliamentary coalition rests. The timeline for enforcing the draft is unclear, as the court authorized the military to determine its timing and target draft numbers.
Israel has had a longstanding, but controversial, policy to excuse ultra-Orthodox youths from its broad-based national draft, which is mandatory for most Jewish citizens, as well as Druze minority men. Originating at the founding of the state in 1948, the exemptions were eventually enshrined in laws that were ultimately struck down as unequal by Israel’s top court.
A government decision to defer enlistment action expired earlier this year. Manpower shortages tied to the nearly nine-month-long war between Israel and Hamas have turned the issue of ultra-Orthodox conscription into a debate, while Israel’s defense establishment is separately pursuing legislation to raise service burdens on its current fighting base.
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