The Supreme Court of Israel ruled ultra-orthodox men are subject to conscription and must serve in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The unanimous decision by the 15-judge court ruled the long-established exemptions for the group are discriminatory, stating, “Non-enforcement of the provisions of the Security Service Law creates severe discrimination between those who are required to serve.”
In response to the ruling, the Israel Democracy Institute stated the IDF must draft eligible men due to the military necessity following October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, posting on X:
Today’s Supreme Court decision is a game-changer. In a landmark decision, Israel’s Supreme Court ruled unanimously that in the absence of legislation to the contrary, the government must proceed with drafting eligible Haredi men and cease funding yeshivas that enroll students eligible for the draft. With our country facing unprecedented security and economic challenges, and the IDF in desperate need of additional manpower, the government should follow up on this ruling by amending the ‘Security Service Law’ and applying the obligation to serve equally to all Israelis – with narrow and specific exceptions. Any new law legislation must include the principle of mandatory service for all Israelis. It must also be enforceable via individual economic penalties for those who refuse to serve and budgetary cuts for religious institutions whose students avoid enlistment.
Israeli Knesset members Yisrael Eichler and Moshe Gafni disagreed with the ruling, with Eichler accusing the Supreme Court of Israel of being “a dictatorial body that has wrested power from the elected government and democratic institutions and wants to force a religious war in the streets and division among Jews,” and stated the government has failed to “stand up and defend the values of Judaism and Torah from dictatorship. We will not be the sacrificial lamb that the right-wing offers to the leaders of the Kaplanist revolution.”
Gafni criticized the court, claiming they did not understand the values of ultra-Orthodox Israelis, stating, “never has the Supreme Court ruled in favor of yeshiva students and the Haredi public. There isn’t a single justice who understands the value of Torah study and its contribution to the people of Israel over the generations.”
