In an historic development that promises to fuel friction between different elements of the country’s society, the Israeli high court on Tuesday unanimously ruled that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) must start drafting ultra-Orthodox Jewish students. 

Until now, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s commitment to maintaining the decades-long draft exemption has been a key means of earning the support of two ultra-Orthodox parties that are building blocks of his ruling coalition. While there’s nowhere for those two parties to flee in pursuit of restoring the exemption, the ruling seemingly removes one of the ties that binds the parties to Netanyahu. 

Outside an IDF induction center, protesters of Haredim draft exemptions push mock coffins (Mothers at the Front)

In their 9-0 ruling, the court noted the ongoing demands of Israel’s 8-month-old war on Gaza in retaliation for the Oct. 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 justices wrote. 

As casualties have mounted in Gaza, long-simmering resentment of the exemption that covers some 1.3 million ultra-Orthodox Jews — or Haredi — has only grown. In addition to protests in the streets, high-ranking Israeli officials have called for an end to the special 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.”At the same event, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi declared that the Haredi exemption was undermining Israel’s “social cohesion.” 

Haredi Jews in Jerusalem burn the Israeli flag in protest against the new Israeli government conscription law, which mandates their enlistment in the occupation army due to the war on Gaza. pic.twitter.com/bDPKfWEbJF

— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) May 4, 2024

The draft is just one facet of the Haredi’s special treatment in Israel. Haredi men who are enrolled in Yeshiva schools — to study the Torah — have also received public subsidies that keep going all the way until they reach the country’s standard retirement age of 67. 

That’s makes these men doubly detractive: They’re economically unproductive, while also draining resources from those who contribute to the country’s economy. Meanwhile, Haredi children are exempt from Israel’s educational standards. Since they don’t have to study core topics like math, science and English, they offer lesser skills to would-be employers. 

‘We will die and not enlist’
Thousands of haredim who are affiliated with the Jerusalem Faction gathered outside the Jerusalem Enlistment Center on Thursday to protest against the enlistment of haredim to the IDF.
🎥 Matanel Rahamim pic.twitter.com/Gi5TNwGPOs

— Israel National News – Arutz Sheva (@ArutzSheva_En) April 11, 2024

Tuesday’s court ruling also landed a broadside hit on the wealth transfers, declaring that funding of students who don’t have a bona fide military exemption are illegal too. Responding to the high court’s ruling, the chairman of one of Israel’s ultra-Orthodox parties reiterated the argument that Haredi men’s full-time study of Judaism’s holy books makes an important contribution to 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 issue, the ruling will likely inflame tension. “[It] creates an ongoing, endemic crisis that will probably continue to escalate,” Yohanan Plesner, president of the Jerusalem-based Israel Democracy Institute, told the Wall Street Journal.