Government asks High Court to again delay mandatory conscription of ultra-Orthodox

The government seeks another deferral of a looming High Court-enforced deadline for it to come up with a new military conscription plan that would address mainstream anger at exemptions granted to ultra-Orthodox Jews.

The court, hearing appeals that describe the decades-old waiver as discriminatory, had given March 31 as the original deadline. That was extended to April 30 at the request of the government, which argued it was busy waging the Gaza war.

In a new request, the Justice Ministry asks for a deferral to May 20, citing a lag in appointing a government lawyer and “significant national-security events” of recent days which, it says, had halted government work on a conscription blueprint.

That appears to refer to an unprecedented Iranian drone and missile salvo against Israel on April 13-14, a surge in fighting on the Lebanese front and Israeli preparations to invade the southern Gaza city of Rafah as part of the offensive to crush Hamas.

There is no immediate response from the court.