From the Liveblog of
Sunday, April 26, 2026
Opposition lawmakers welcome High Court ruling to impose financial sanctions on Haredi draft evaders
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"
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid welcomes the High Court of Justice’s decision ordering the state to impose financial sanctions on ultra-Orthodox draft evaders, declaring that the court had ruled that “draft dodging must end immediately.”
“Netanyahu’s government must decide whether it stands with the Zionists or with the draft dodgers,” the Yesh Atid chair writes on X.
The court has ordered the government to prepare a number of sanctions, including withdrawing daycare and transportation subsidies and municipal tax discounts, drawing the ire of the Haredim.
“There are judges in Jerusalem,” declares The Democrats chief Yair Golan, using a quote attributed to Likud founder Menachem Begin.
“In the next government, we will ensure that the Haredim enlist. We will ensure that the [IDF-]serving and tax-paying public does not bear the burden alone, and that the surrender to Haredi political maneuvering ends.”
Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman also welcomes the ruling, writing that “the true right does not support evasion and does not support evaders.”
“Whoever does not enlist will not receive. Period,” he writes.
In a separate tweet, Liberman reiterates his own party’s plan for sanctioning draft evaders, which includes prohibiting them from voting.
The Times of Israel Community.