Israel’s Supreme Court issued a conditional order this afternoon against the recently passed Knesset amendment to Israel’s draft law that further pushed back mandatory military service for haredim and inserted various measures that would essentially ensure that few, if any, actual haredi yeshiva students would be drafted.
Israel’s Supreme Court Issues Conditional Order Against Amendment That Gutted Haredi Draft
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
Israel’s Supreme Court issued a conditional order this afternoon against the recently passed Knesset amendment to Israel’s draft law that further pushed back mandatory military service for haredim and inserted various measures that would essentially ensure that few, if any, actual haredi yeshiva students would be drafted, Arutz Sheva reported.
The Movement for Quality Government filed an appeal against the new amendment with the court, arguing in part that the new amendment increases inequality.
Nine justices ruled against the amendment today, and Chief Justice Miriam Naor reportedly demanded the Knesset and government provide proof delaying and weakening the haredi draft is justified.
The court previously struck down a version of the draft law that provided blanket exemptions for all haredi yeshiva students – but not for university students or Zionist Orthodox yeshiva students or other subgroups – as unconstitutional. The law was then modified by the previous government under the main direction of the centrist Yesh Atid Party, the strongest coalition partner. The modified law called for drafting haredim in increasingly large cohorts until a near-universal draft was achieved. But the current government, which remains in power only due to the support of haredi parties, walked back that law by passing the amendment late last year.