Jerusalem – Israel’s Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Tuesday that the military must begin conscripting ultra-Orthodox men, a landmark decision that could lead to the collapse of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition as Israel continues to press ahead. war against Hamas in Gaza.
The landmark ruling effectively ends a decades-old system that granted ultra-Orthodox men broad exemptions from military service, while maintaining mandatory military service for the country’s secular Jewish majority. The arrangement, seen by critics as discriminatory, has created a deep divide among Israel’s Jewish majority over who should bear the burden of protecting the country.
The court struck down a law codifying exemptions in 2017, but repeated court extensions and government delaying tactics on replacement delayed a resolution for years. The court ruled that in the absence of a law, Israeli military service applies to ultra-Orthodox people, just like any other citizen.
JACK GUEZ/AFP/Getty
Under long-standing regulations, ultra-Orthodox men are exempt from military service, which is mandatory for most Jewish men and women.
These waivers have long been a source of anger among the secular public, a rift that has widened during the eight-month war as the military has called up tens of thousands of soldiers, saying it needs all the manpower it can get. More than 600 soldiers have been killed since the Hamas attack on October 7.
Politically powerful ultra-Orthodox parties, important partners in Netanyahu’s governing coalition most far-right government the country has ever had, oppose any change in the current system. If the waivers are ended, they could abandon the coalition, causing the government to collapse and likely triggering new elections at a time when its popularity has waned.
In the current environment, Netanyahu could find it difficult to delay the case further or pass legislation to restore the exemptions. During arguments, government lawyers told the court that forcing ultra-Orthodox men to enlist would “tear Israeli society apart.” There was no immediate comment from Netanyahu’s office.
Netanyahu says the next phase of the Gaza war will happen soon as tensions with Hezbollah increase
The court’s ruling comes at a sensitive time, as the war in Gaza enters its ninth month and the number of dead soldiers continues to rise. Netanyahu said on Sunday that the current phase of the war against Hamas – marked by large-scale ground operations and intense aerial bombardment that Hamas-led administrators of Gaza say has killed more than 37,400 Palestinians – would likely end “very soon.”
The move to the next phase, Israeli officials have said, will allow the army to reposition more troops close to the country’s northern border with Lebanon, where it has exchanged fire with Hamas’ much better armed ally Hezbollah.
The White House has expressed concern about Israel could launch a large-scale offensive against Hezbollahdeepening the crisis in the heart of the Middle East and potentially putting American forces in the region at much greater risk.
In its ruling, the court found that the state carried out “invalid selective enforcement, which constitutes a serious violation of the rule of law and the principle that all individuals are equal before the law.”
It did not say how many ultra-Orthodox should be drafted, but the army has said it is able to recruit 3,000 soldiers this year. About 66,000 ultra-Orthodox men are now eligible to enlist, according to Shuki Friedman, an expert on religion and state affairs and the vice president of the Jewish People Policy Institute, a think tank in Jerusalem.
The ruling of Israel’s highest court must be followed, and the military is expected to begin doing so once it has drawn up a plan for drafting thousands of members of a population deeply opposed to servitude. The military had no immediate comment.
The court also ruled that state subsidies for seminaries where exempt ultra-Orthodox men study should remain suspended. The court temporarily froze seminary budgets earlier this year.
In a post on the social media platform He did not say whether his party would leave the coalition government.
“The State of Israel was founded to be a home for the Jewish people, whose Torah is the basis of its existence. The Holy Torah will prevail,” he wrote.
The ultra-Orthodox see their full-time religious studies as their contribution to the protection of the state. Many fear that greater contact with secular society through the military will distance adherents from strict observance of the faith. Ultra-Orthodox men attend special seminaries that focus on religious studies, with little attention to secular subjects such as math, English or science. Critics have said they are ill-prepared to serve in the military or enter the secular workforce.
Religious women are generally given exemptions that are not as controversial, in part because women are not expected to serve in combat units.
The ruling now sets the stage for increasing friction within the coalition over the design issue. Ultra-Orthodox lawmakers will likely face intense pressure from religious leaders and their constituents and may have to choose whether it is worth it for them to remain in government.
Friedman said the ultra-Orthodox “understand that they have no better political alternative, but at the same time their audience is saying, ‘Why did we vote for you?'”
The exemptions have faced years of legal challenges and a series of court rulings have declared the system unjust. But Israeli leaders have repeatedly stalled under pressure from ultra-Orthodox parties.
The Movement for Quality Government in Israel, which helped lead the fight against the waivers, called on the government to immediately recall all eligible seminary students. “This is their legal and moral obligation, especially in light of the complex security situation and urgent need for personnel” in the military, said Tomer Naor, head of the group’s legal department.
Netanyahu’s coalition is backed by two ultra-Orthodox parties that oppose increased recruitment of their voters. The long-serving Israeli leader has tried to abide by the court’s rulings while also working to preserve his coalition. But with a narrow majority of 64 seats in the 120-member parliament, he often depends on the pet issues of smaller parties.
The government could theoretically try to draft a law restoring the exemptions, but this will be a political challenge in light of the court ruling.
Some moderate members of the government have indicated they will only support a law that would employ significant numbers of ultra-Orthodox, and the legislative clock is running out as the Knesset soon heads to its summer recess. That could force the military to start calling up religious men before a new law comes into effect.
Netanyahu has promoted a bill introduced by a previous government in 2022 that aimed to address the issue by calling for limited ultra-Orthodox recruitment.
But critics say the bill was drafted before the war and does not do enough to address urgent manpower shortages as the army tries to maintain its troops in the Gaza Strip while preparing for a possible war with the Lebanese Hezbollah group , who has been fighting with Israel since the war in Gaza broke out last October.
With its high birth rate, the ultra-Orthodox community is the fastest growing segment of the population, at about 4% per year. Each year, about 13,000 ultra-Orthodox men reach the draft age of 18, but fewer than 10% enlist, according to the Israeli parliament’s State Audit Committee.
