Israel\u2019s Supreme Court ordered the government to start conscripting Ultra-Orthodox men into military service, a landmark ruling that could test the ruling coalition of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. <\/p>\n
The Tuesday decision \u2014 which also called for the state to stop funding seminaries whose students avoid the draft \u2014 highlights an issue that has long divided Israel and become particularly emotive since the start of the ongoing war with Hamas in October. Israel operates a system of mandatory military service but the Ultra-Orthodox, known as Haredim, have been exempt since the early days of the state. <\/p>\n
Two religious parties joined with Netanyahu\u2019s Likud in late 2022 to form a government on the understanding that their longstanding exclusion from being called up would be encoded into law. The court\u2019s focus on equality is one of the reasons the government spent much of 2023 trying to limit the power of the judiciary.<\/p>\n
The justices wrote that the present system \u201ccreates severe discrimination between those who are required to serve, and those whose recruitment procedures are not taken.\u201d<\/p>\n
Israel has called up hundreds of thousands of reservists since the invasion by Hamas militants on Oct. 7, which triggered the Gaza conflict. Many secular Israelis say the war \u2014 and the likelihood of higher defense spending for years to come due to threats from the likes of Hezbollah in Lebanon \u2014 makes it more unacceptable that religious Jews are exempt from military service.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese days, in the midst of a difficult war, the burden of inequality is more acute than ever,\u201d the court said in the ruling from a unanimous expanded bench of nine justices.<\/p>\n
The drafting of Haredi men would likely deliver a boost for Israel\u2019s economy, as it would relieve some of the burden from the technology and business sectors whose workforces make up most of Israel\u2019s reserve forces. A plan to lengthen military service both for conscripts and reservists is expected to cost 100 billion shekels ($27 billion) in expenses and lost productivity over the next decade, a figure that would be reduced if the Ultra-Orthodox are drafted. <\/p>\n
Controversial Exemption<\/p>\n
Exemption from military service for the Haredim dates from when David Ben Gurion, Israel\u2019s first prime Minister, agreed to permit some 400 Haredi students to study in seminaries, or yeshivas, rather than be drafted. <\/p>\n
The policy had little impact when they were a tiny minority. But as Israel has grown wealthy, the group\u2019s numbers have exploded and now constitute some 14% of Israel\u2019s 10 million population, and an even larger share of recruitment-aged Israelis. The court quoted the state as saying there are currently 63,000 draft-age Haredi young men.<\/p>\n
Benny Gantz, a leader of the opposition who recently left Netanyahu\u2019s war cabinet, blamed the prime minister for the impasse, urging him to \u201creach agreements that will serve the country\u2019s security needs\u201d and not isolate different parts of society.<\/p>\n
A spokesman for Likud said a \u201chistoric conscription law\u201d is already working its way through parliament which would \u201csignificantly increase the recruitment rates of the Ultra-Orthodox public.\u201d <\/p>\n
Elections aren\u2019t scheduled till 2026 and the Haredi parties may in any case decide their best bet is to stick with Netanyahu rather than try to form a new coalition with those further to the left. <\/p>\n
Judicial Overhaul<\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s government had made overhauling the country\u2019s judicial system a top priority before Oct. 7, sparking massive protests mostly by secular Israelis who argued that the planned changes would undermine the country\u2019s democracy.<\/p>\n
Haredim, whose dress and customs \u2014 white shirt, black trousers, coat and skullcap \u2014 stem from Eastern Europe, seek to be left alone to study and pray. They fear that forcing their young into the Israeli military will lure them from a cloistered existence into secular sin.<\/p>\n
Many Haredi men spend their days, as did their fathers, in large seminary halls studying sacred texts but hold few jobs. They receive state subsidies and their wives mostly work.<\/p>\n
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