Israel's Supreme Court rules military draft must include ultra-Orthodox men

Israel's Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that the state must begin drafting ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students into the military, a decree that has the potential to divide Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's governing coalition.

Netanyahu's government relies on two ultra-Orthodox parties that regard conscription exemptions as key to keeping their constituents in religious seminaries and away from a melting-pot military that might test their conservative customs.

"At the height of a difficult war, the burden of inequality is more than ever acute," the court's unanimous ruling said.

Most Jewish Israelis are bound by law to serve in the military from the age of 18, for three years for men and two years for women. Members of Israel's 21 per cent Arab minority are exempt, though some do serve, and ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students have also been largely exempt for decades.

For more than six years, the state had been asking the Supreme Court for more time to pass a new conscription law to resolve the issue.

The law governing the exemption for seminary students expired last year, but the government continued to allow them not to serve. The Supreme Court ruled that in the absence of a new legal basis for the exemption, the state must draft them. The ruling also barred seminaries from receiving state subsidies if scholars avoid service without deferrals or exemptions.

Netanyahu's Likud party said the Supreme Court's ruling was "perplexing," given ongoing efforts in parliament to agree on a new conscription law that would address the problem.

The history behind exemptions

The exemptions offered to the ultra-Orthodox Haredi community date back to the early days of the state of Israel in 1948, when its first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, exempted about 400 students from military service so they could devote themselves to religious study. In so doing, Ben-Gurion hoped to keep alive sacred knowledge and traditions almost wiped out in the Holocaust.

The ultra-Orthodox make up 13 per cent of Israel's 10 million population, a figure expected to reach 19 per cent by 2035 due to higher birth rates. More than 65,000 ultra-Orthodox men could be now eligible for enlistment, in light of the court ruling.

Ultra-Orthodox protesters demonstrate against conscription bill in April:

The Haredi resistance to joining the military is based on their strong sense of religious identity, which many families fear risks being weakened by army service.

"There's no judge there who understands the value of Torah study and its contribution to the people of Israel throughout the generations," said ultra-Orthodox lawmaker Moshe Gafni, who heads the powerful parliamentary finance committee, referring to study of Judaism's holy books.

For mainstream Israelis, whose taxes subsidize the Haredim and who are themselves obliged to serve in the military, the exemptions have long bred resentment.

"There's nothing Jewish about dodging military service," said opposition lawmaker and former defence minister Avigdor Lieberman.

Often living in heavily Orthodox neighbourhoods and devoting their lives to religious study, many Haredi men do not work for money but live off donations, state benefits and the often paltry wages of their wives, many of whom do work.

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The conscription waiver keeps some of the community in seminaries and out of the workforce, hindering economic growth and placing a welfare burden on middle-class taxpayers, opponents of the waiver argue.

Religious women generally receive exemptions that are not as controversial, in part because women are not expected to serve in combat units.

The stakes for Netanyahu's government

The ultra-Orthodox conscription waiver has become especially charged as Israel's armed forces are overstretched by a multi-front war with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The longstanding military waiver for the ultra-Orthodox has sparked protests in recent months by Israelis angry that they are shouldering the risk of fighting the war in Gaza. Some 600 members of the military have been killed in fighting since Hamas led an attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7.

In contrast, ultra-Orthodox demonstrators have blocked roads under the banner "death before conscription."

While public opinion has tended to favour removing the exemptions, two ultra-Orthodox parties in Netanyahu's coalition, United Torah Judaism and Shas, have vowed to fight any effort to end the exemption.

Defence Minister Yoav Gallant wants a more equal sharing of the burden, a sentiment shared by several other lawmakers in Netanyahu's Likud party and among most of the opposition.

A new draft bill being hammered out in parliament could resolve the crisis if wide agreement is reached. The bill, which Gallant voted against, would see a gradual entry into the military of some ultra-Orthodox Jews, rather than an immediate and complete end to the exemption.

"We need everyone to protect ourselves in this country," Gallant said earlier this month. "We will bring everyone possible, from all segments of the public, from all levels, we will draft them, we will give them equal opportunity."

Education Minister Yoav Kisch, of Netanyahu's Likud Party, voiced hope on Tuesday that agreement could be reached on a legislative compromise.

"Not in a civil war, not in a fight that will tear apart Israeli society in the middle of a tough war. It's possible to do it together," Kisch said.

If a deal can't be reached, it is possible Netanyahu's government could be brought down, which could lead to Israel's seventh election in a decade.