High Court orders state to detail how it will enforce conscription of ultra-Orthodox men

The High Court of Justice has ordered the state to provide details on how it intends to enforce the conscription of ultra-Orthodox men and how it will combat refusal to respond to IDF draft orders, after a hearing on Haredi conscription efforts earlier this week.

The state has until January 30 to respond.

Earlier this week, the state told the High Court that starting in 2026, there will be no limit to the number of ultra-Orthodox servicemen the Israel Defense Forces will have the capacity to enlist.

The High Court also asks for details on the steps that will be taken to ensure Haredi men are drafted, including whether draft orders will automatically be issued for Haredi 18-year-olds, as they are for the vast majority of 18-year-olds across Israeli society.

This past year, some 70,000 Haredi males were listed as eligible for military service.

In a landmark ruling in June, the High Court of Justice ruled unanimously that the government must draft ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students into the military since there was no longer any legal framework to continue the decades-long practice of granting them blanket exemptions from army service.

Since then, thousands of orders have gone out but few Haredim have enlisted, with the overwhelming majority of those eligible for military service remaining out of the army.

As of November 2024, the IDF had issued 1,126 arrest warrants to those who did not show up to the induction centers.