High Court tells government to draw up sanctions for Haredi draft dodgers within 45 days

The High Court of Justice unanimously orders the government to draw up effective enforcement measures, including criminal sanctions, against ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students who have refused to comply with military service conscription orders.

A five-member panel led by Justice Noam Sohlberg accuses the government and state agencies of having almost “totally shirked” their responsibilities to enforce the law on security service for Haredi draft dodgers, which represents “a violation” of the state’s obligation to enforce its laws and even amounts to “selective enforcement,” a summary of the ruling issued by the Judicial Authority says.

The order directs the government to draw up a policy for enforcement within 45 days, including opening criminal proceedings against those legally determined to be draft dodgers from the ultra-Orthodox community, so that the percentage of Haredi draft dodgers against whom criminal proceedings are underway not be lower than that of draft dodgers from other sectors of the population.

The court also orders the government to devise civil and economic sanctions against draft dodgers that have a high likelihood of being effective, and to stop any benefits granted to Haredi yeshiva students who studied in yeshiva in lieu of military service, such as monthly stipends and similar grants.

The court also insists that the fact that the government is trying to legislate a new bill to regulate conscription for ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students (and likely allow many to continue avoiding the draft) is irrelevant to the obligation to enforce the law as it currently stands.

The government is seeking to pass new legislation to reinstate blanket military service exemptions for most ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students, but is facing significant opposition from the ultra-Orthodox political parties — which insist that the concessions to their community are not deep enough — as well as from members of the coalition in Likud and other parties who argue that the law will not meet the requirements of the IDF for thousands of new combat soldiers.