Petition filed against Basic Law enshrining Torah study as national value, says it seeks to enable Haredim to evade IDF service

The Movement for Quality Government in Israel says it has filed a petition to the High Court of Justice against the just-passed Basic Law enshrining Torah study as national value, describing the measure as an effort to “embed draft evasion and military service exemptions into Israel’s Basic Laws” in order to circumvent High Court rulings.

The High Court in 2017 struck down a law granting mass military service exemptions to ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students as a violation of the right to equality, and in 2024 ruled that ultra-Orthodox men were obligated to enlist to the IDF.

“The purpose of the law is to give the court a ‘counterweight’ to the principle of equality, thereby paving the way for future [military service] exemptions and benefits for draft-dodgers — at a time when combat soldiers and reservists are buckling under the burden,” the Movement for Quality Government says in a statement to the press.

“This Basic Law was born out of a political deal, rushed through the legislative process without genuine public debate, and, above all, seeks to institutionalize permanent discrimination between one citizen’s blood and another’s. It will not withstand scrutiny by the High Court,” the organization adds.