In a groundbreaking decision, Israel’s high court has ruled that ultra-Orthodox Jewish students must now be drafted into the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), overturning decades of exemption. This ruling, which aims to address inequality in military service amid ongoing conflict, has sparked intense debate and protests. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s longstanding support from ultra-Orthodox parties, hinged on maintaining these exemptions, now faces significant challenges. The court’s decision not only affects military service but also economic subsidies for Yeshiva students, stirring up deeper societal divisions in Israel.
The Israeli high court unanimously declared on Tuesday that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) must begin drafting ultra-Orthodox Jewish students, in a landmark decision that promises to exacerbate tensions in the country’s society.
Until now, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s pledge to maintain the decades-long draft exemption has been a major factor in gaining the backing of two ultra-Orthodox parties that form the foundation of his ruling coalition. While there is nowhere for those two parties to escape in their pursuit of restoring the exemption, the verdict appears to cut one of the links that bind them to Netanyahu.
The court’s 9-0 decision acknowledged the ongoing demands of Israel’s 8-month-old war on Gaza in retribution for the October 7 invasion of southern Israel. “In the middle of a difficult war, the burden of inequality is felt more acutely than ever—and it requires advancing a sustainable solution to this issue,” the judges said.
As losses pile in Gaza, long-simmering dissatisfaction with the exemption that protects approximately 1.3 million ultra-Orthodox Jews, or Haredi, has only grown. In addition to street protests, senior Israeli officials have urged for an end to the privileged treatment.
“The war and the challenges placed before us… require us to share the burden of military service,” said Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in March. “Everyone must carry the burden, all sectors of the nation.”In the same speech, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi stated that the Haredi exemption was damaging Israel’s “social cohesion.”
The draft is only one aspect of the Haredi’s preferential status in Israel. Haredi men enrolling in Yeshiva schools to study Torah have also received governmental subsidies that will continue until they reach the country’s regular retirement age of 67.
That makes these men doubly unattractive: they are economically unproductive while also depleting resources from those who contribute to the country’s economy. Meanwhile, Haredi youngsters are excluded from Israeli educational norms. Because they are not required to study key subjects such as arithmetic, physics, and English, they provide fewer skills to potential employers.
Tuesday’s court verdict also took a blow at wealth transfers, finding that support for students who do not have a legitimate military exemption is equally unconstitutional. Responding to the high court’s decision, the chairman of one of Israel’s ultra-Orthodox parties restated the notion that Haredi men’s full-time study of Judaism’s holy books benefits Israel:
“The Jewish people survived persecutions, pogroms, and wars only thanks to maintaining their uniqueness, the Torah, and the commandments. This is our secret weapon against all enemies, as promised by the Creator of the universe,” Shas chair Aryeh Deri told the Times of Israel. “[Yeshiva students] preserve our special power and generate miracles in the [military] campaign.”
Rather than resolving the matter, the verdict is likely to exacerbate conflict. “[It] creates an ongoing, endemic crisis that will probably continue to escalate,” Yohanan Plesner, head of the Israel Democracy Institute in Jerusalem, told the Wall Street Journal.
Recently, GreatGameIndia reported that in a tragic incident, an Israeli airstrike hit near the main gate of the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency headquarters in Gaza City, killing at least eight people and injuring many others who were seeking aid or sheltering from the conflict.
One Response
Oy vey!
THAT oughtta get their pig-tails in a bind!