Judgment of the Supreme Court
Israel obliges ultra-Orthodox members to perform military service
25.06.2024, 12:11
Listen to article
This audio version was artificially generated. More info | Send feedback
Petitions are calling for ultra-Orthodox men to be immediately drafted into Israel’s army. In light of the war in the Gaza Strip, the country’s highest court also sees it this way. The ruling affects not only 63,000 men, but also Netanyahu’s coalition. A government has already collapsed over this issue.
Ultra-Orthodox men must also be required to serve in the Israeli army. This was decided unanimously by Israel’s highest court. The ruling is seen as a bitter setback for the right-wing religious government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The nine judges in Jerusalem approved two petitions that called for the immediate conscription of ultra-Orthodox men. “At the height of a harsh war, the burden of an unequal distribution of the burden is greater than ever and requires a solution,” the verdict stated. There is no legal basis for exempting ultra-Orthodox men from conscription.
The issue of conscription has recently become an increasing test for Netanyahu’s government, which is also arguing about the future course of the Gaza war. Observers believe that the stability of the coalition is threatened by the dispute over conscription because it also relies on strict religious partners who strictly oppose the conscription of young men from their community.
Decades-long exception ends
For decades, ultra-Orthodox men were exempted from compulsory military service in Israel. These exemptions expired three months ago. Netanyahu’s government, however, failed to pass a law that would cement the exemptions. The Supreme Court then ordered the cancellation of state subsidies for ultra-Orthodox men of military age who study in religious schools. At the end of March, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara also ruled that the military was obliged to draft religious students, who had previously been largely exempt.
According to the court, there are 63,000 men. The army recently warned urgently of a severe shortage of combat soldiers in light of the Gaza war. Critics denounced the previously applicable relief for ultra-Orthodox men as unfair. The Gaza war has once again widened the gap between the camps. Men must regularly do three years of military service in Israel, women two years.
The government coalition had already collapsed in 2018 over a dispute over a law that would gradually require more strictly religious men to serve in the military. But there are also ultra-Orthodox men who serve voluntarily. Strictly religious women are only recruited on a voluntary basis.