High Court: Government has made no progress in enforcement against ultra-Orthodox draft dodgers

The High Court of Justice says the government has made no progress in drawing up effective measures for enforcing military conscription for ultra-Orthodox men who have received draft orders but failed to present themselves for enlistment.

The court says in a decision that the state’s response to petitions asking for the government to be found in contempt of court for failing to enforce enlistment were “unsatisfactory,” and that elements of the current situation were “extremely worrying.”

The justices upbraid the government for failing to provide adequate details in its response to the contempt of court request; note that the government has already blown past previous deadlines; and ordered the government to provide a full and complete update by March 22.

A hearing on the petitions for a contempt of court ruling was supposed to be held today but was canceled because of the conflict with Iran.

The court notes that it had previously requested a full explanation of the steps the government was taking to take such enforcement measures, but said the government had failed to present “any factual details whatsoever” about a key aspect of enforcement — socioeconomic sanctions against ultra-Orthodox draft dodgers.

Details about criminal enforcement were also entirely absent from the government’s response, the court says.

The judges further write that the details provided by the government regarding the behavior of the police in enforcing conscription, and specifically the working relationship of the police and military enforcement officials, are “exceedingly troubling,” and “are incommensurate with court rulings on this issue,” a phrase which could already be seen as a determination by the court that the state has failed to implement its ruling on Haredi conscription enforcement.

In the attorney general’s response to the court on behalf of the military, she informed the court that IDF officials had said that the police are refusing to enable arrest operations for Haredi draft dodgers by military police in ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods.

The court’s comments and decision are issued unanimously by all five justices on the panel.