High Court ruling means IDF draft for Haredim must start immediately, Movement for Quality Government claims

The Movement for Quality Government in Israel, whose petition led to today’s High Court ruling, claims that the decision means the government must begin drafting ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students immediately.

The nine justices, however, said they were not specifying at this stage how their ruling should be implemented.

“This is a historic victory for the rule of law and the principle of equality in the burden of military service,” says MQG following the High Court’s unanimous ruling that there is no longer any legal framework for the government to grant blanket exemptions from military service to ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students and that the government must therefore enforce the law of mandatory conscription on those men.

“We call on the government and the defense minister to implement the decision without delay, to comply with the High Court’s order, and to work immediately to draft [ultra-Orthodox] yeshiva students,” the organization says in a statement.