From the Liveblog of
Sunday, April 26, 2026
Likud’s Edelstein welcomes High Court ruling against draft evasion
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
The High Court is standing up for reservists and combating Haredi draft evasion instead of the coalition, declares former Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Yuli Edelstein (Likud) after the court ruled this morning that the state must impose financial sanctions on ultra-Orthodox draft evaders.
He aims criticism at the government: “Instead of the coalition making things easier for the reservists, it is surrendering to Haredi demands and thereby abandoning the soldiers’ fate to High Court intervention.”
“I have no doubt that the framework I proposed at one time would have both drafted young Haredi men and passed the High Court’s muster,” says Edelstein, referring to his own rejected outline for ultra-Orthodox conscription. “Those currently paying the price are the same servicemen being called up for endless rounds of reserve duty.”
The Times of Israel Community.