AG urges High Court to strike down law freezing arrest of Haredi draft dodgers
Gali Baharav-Miara, representing the state, says law is ‘discriminatory’ and ‘an extreme and clear case of harmful legislation that does not meet legal standards’
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Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara urged the High Court on Friday to overturn legislation freezing the arrest of ultra-Orthodox draft dodgers.
Submitting the state’s opinion, Baharav-Miara called the law passed during a final legislative blitz by the government earlier this month “an extreme and clear case of flawed and harmful legislation that does not meet legal standards.”
She added that it creates “a selective and discriminatory criminal enforcement regime, which is diametrically opposed to the fundamental constitutional principle of equality before the law.”
Several petitions were filed against the law immediately after its passage, arguing that the legislation was discriminatory since it bans arrests for ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students who have failed to obey conscription orders, while allowing arrests for non-Haredi draft dodgers to continue.
The court has already temporarily frozen the implementation of the law and Baharav-Miara urged the court to block it completely.
Baharav-Miara said the government’s efforts to exempt the ultra-Orthodox from military service mean that the burden placed on those who do serve has become unbearable.
She said the law’s purpose was not to advance a solution to the conscription question but rather to create a “mechanism of immunity” for one specific group only.
The law banned arrests, investigations and enforcement measures against draft dodgers enrolled in yeshiva study until November 30, but will actually extend to February 2027 due to legal reasons tied to the upcoming elections.
Some 72,000 ultra-Orthodox men aged 18 to 24 are currently eligible for military service, but have ignored conscription orders. The IDF has said repeatedly in recent months that it urgently needs 12,000 new recruits amid the ongoing multifront conflict.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir called the law “inconceivable,” saying it was “clearly and unequivocally inconsistent with the IDF’s needs” and amounted to “providing mass exemptions from prosecution.”
The High Court is expected to hold a hearing on the law before an expanded panel of judges.
The Times of Israel Community.