High Court rules unanimously that ultra-Orthodox men eligible for service must be drafted

The High Court of Justice rules unanimously that there is no longer any legal framework for the government to grant blanket exemptions from military service to ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students, and further that the government cannot continue to instruct the IDF and Defense Ministry not to draft such men into IDF service.

The nine-justice bench also rules that the government can no longer provide financial support for yeshiva students studying in lieu of military service since the law providing for that arrangement has passed.

The court does not, however, go into the details of how to enforce the law as it stands according to its new ruling, or how many ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students need to be drafted.

There are an estimated 63,000 Haredi males who are eligible for service.

The ruling will likely have dramatic political and societal ramifications, since the Haredi political parties fiercely oppose the draft for their constituents and are demanding legislation to reinstate blanket draft exemptions, which some Likud MKs have already said they cannot vote for.

During a hearing earlier this month, High Court justices expressed skepticism about the government’s ongoing refusal to begin drafting Haredi men even though all legal frameworks for granting them military service exemptions have expired.