Politics Israel's highest court: compulsory military service also applies to the ultra-Orthodox

Ultra-Orthodox men must also be obliged to do military service in the Israeli army. This was the unanimous decision of Israel's highest court on Tuesday. The ruling is considered a bitter setback for the right-wing religious government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The nine judges in Jerusalem approved two petitions that had called for the immediate conscription of ultra-Orthodox men. "At the height of a harsh war, the burden of an unequal distribution of the burden is greater than ever, and requires a solution," it was stated in the ruling. There is no legal basis for exempting the ultra-Orthodox from compulsory military service.

The issue of conscription has recently become an increasing test for Netanyahu's government, which is also arguing over the future course of the Gaza war. Observers believe that the stability of the coalition is endangered by the dispute over conscription because it is also based on strict religious partners who strictly reject the conscription of young men from their community.

For decades, there were exemptions for ultra-Orthodox men from compulsory military service in Israel. However, these expired three months ago. However, Netanyahu's government failed to pass a law to cement the exemptions.

As a result, the highest court ordered the removal of state subsidies for ultra-Orthodox men of conscription age who study in religious schools. At the end of March, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara also ruled that the military was obliged to conscript religious students who had previously been largely exempt.

According to the court, this involves 63,000 men. In light of the Gaza war, the army had recently warned of a severe shortage of combat soldiers.

Critics have denounced the previous exemptions for ultra-Orthodox men as unfair. The Gaza war has once again widened the gap between the camps.

In Israel, men are required to do three years of military service, women two years. The ruling coalition had already collapsed in 2018 over a dispute about a law that would gradually oblige more strictly religious men to serve in the armed forces. However, there are also ultra-Orthodox men who serve voluntarily. Strictly religious women are only recruited on a voluntary basis.