Court rejects government’s request for more time to draft Haredi enlistment bill

The High Court of Justice rejects the government’s request for another extension before a controversial military enlistment law that was deemed unconstitutional in 2017 is annulled.

Defense Minister Benny Gantz had asked the High Court of Justice to postpone its deadline for the passage of new legislation regulating military service for members of Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community by six months, but the court says the current, unconstitutional law will only remain in force until February 1, leaving the government less than three months to come up with an alternative.

The ultra-Orthodox community has historically enjoyed blanket deferrals from the military in favor of religious seminary studies, and many of its members shun the military service that is mandatory for other Jewish Israelis. However, there is opposition to the arrangement from many in the broader population who want the ultra-Orthodox to help shoulder the burden of defending the country.

Multiple versions of a bill regulating the ultra-Orthodox draft have been advanced by the Knesset and knocked down by the High Court of Justice on constitutional grounds in a decade-long legal and political saga.

Israel’s ongoing political crisis can be traced back to wrangling over the enlistment of yeshiva students.