“The Supreme Court ruling puts an end to 76 years of unlawful inequality and discrimination,” Eliad Shraga, chair of the Movement for Quality Government in Israel – the main petitioner in the case – said in a statement. “We will no longer agree to the absurd situation where there are those who give to the state, contribute and even risk their lives, and there are those who do nothing.”
Netanyahu’s party, Likud, said in a statement reacting to the ruling that that legislation remained “the real solution to the conscription problem,” and “not a High Court ruling.”
Aryeh Deri, leader of the Shas party, decried the ruling.
“Even here, in the Jewish state, alongside our precious fighters who sacrifice their lives against the enemies, we will continue to guard those who learn the Torah, which preserves our special power and creates miracles in battle,” he said, according to the Ynet news site. “Whoever tried to disconnect the people of Israel from the Torah in the past failed miserably.”
Nonetheless, Moshe Roth, a member of Knesset from the United Torah Judaism party, on Tuesday downplayed the ruling. “Nothing is going to change practically,” Roth told CNN. “Many see this as kind of muscle flexing.”
Although the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is now legally obliged to draft Haredi men, military leaders say they are not prepared to do so en masse. Ultra-Orthodox men, who already serve in some small numbers in the military, have particular religious requirements, and so they usually serve in special units.
“According to the calculations of the army, there were 1,800 that were conscripted last year,” Gilad Malach, director of the Ultra-Orthodox in Israel program at the Israel Democracy Institute, said after the ruling. “The army needs to do some change in order to conscript them. According to the army, next year the army can receive 4,800.”
“It’s the first time that the Supreme Court says that, immediately, there is one legislation connected to conscription of the ultra-Orthodox society, and it is the regular conscription law,” Malach added. “We are in a very, very problematic political situation for the (governing) coalition – for the Haredim, and for Netanyahu.”
Tensions in Netanyahu’s government
Although the Supreme Court has now ruled that the IDF must draft Haredi men, ultra-Orthodox leaders will continue to push for legislation that gives them a legal exemption.
“We are being practical when it comes to any these issues, and leaving the coalition doesn’t change the fact,” Roth said.
The ruling is likely to increase tensions within Netanyahu’s government, and between its political and military leaders.
The war in Gaza has put significant strain on Israel’s military, and given the issue of recruitment an urgency it lacked before Hamas’ October 7 attack. The IDF has called up huge numbers of reservists, asking them to serve extended tours of service and removing legions of workers from Israel’s economy.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has publicly criticized Netanyahu’s attempt to exempt Haredi Jews. And IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi has been vocal about the need to draft Haredi men.
“Every such battalion that we establish, an ultra-Orthodox battalion, decreases the need for the deployment of many thousands of reservists thanks to the mandatory service people,” he said earlier this month. “We want to
expand the base as much as possible – of those who come to enlist, I tell you that there is an opportunity for change in the ultra-Orthodox community.”
This is not the first time the Supreme Court has struck down the Haredi exemption. In 1998, the court told the government that allowing Haredim to get out of conscription violated equal protection principles. In the decades since, successive governments and Knessets have tried to solve the issue, only to be told again and again by the court that their efforts were illegal.
In a February poll conducted by the Israel Democracy Institute, 64% of Israeli respondents and 70% of Jewish Israeli respondents said that the Haredi exemption “should be changed.” The pollsters spoke with Israeli adults – 600 in Hebrew and 150 in Arabic.
