State seeks four-month delay on legislating ultra-Orthodox enlistment

The government has asked the High Court of Justice to further extend the deadline it set to pass a new law on the ultra-Orthodox draft to the Israel Defense Forces by four months.

The postponement is sought after former defense minister Avigdor Liberman quits the coalition, leaving it with the thinnest majority possible.

Last September, the High Court ruled that a 2015 version of Israel’s draft law granting most yeshiva students exemptions from service was unconstitutional, and gave lawmakers a year to institute new guidelines for ultra-Orthodox enlistment.

The court later gave Netanyahu’s government until December 2 to pass an amended version of the bill regulating IDF enlistment. If new legislation is not voted into law, current deferral regulations will expire with the deadline, and thousands of yeshiva students will find themselves unable to renew their deferments, making them eligible to be drafted by the IDF.