In a blow to Netanyahu, Supreme Court ruled Israeli military must draft Ultra-Orthodox Jews

By Mick Krever and Mike Schwartz

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men protest in Jerusalem against compulsory military service, on April 11,. Ohad Zwigenberg/AP

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men protest in Jerusalem against compulsory military service, on April 11,. Ohad Zwigenberg/AP

Jerusalem CNN  — 

Israel’s Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the government to draft ultra-Orthodox Jews into the military, delivering a blow to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that has the potential to unravel his ruling coalition.

The court also ordered the government to withdraw funding from any religious schools, or yeshivas, whose students do not comply with draft notices.

“The government wanted to distinguish at the level of law enforcement between individuals based on their group affiliation,” the court said in its ruling. “It was determined that by doing so, the government seriously harmed the rule of law and the principle according to which all individuals are equal before the law.”

Ultra-Orthodox (or Haredi) Jews have, for all intents and purposes, been exempt from national mandatory military service since Israel’s founding (Palestinian citizens of Israel are also exempt.) Ultra-Orthodox men spend much of their early lives out of the workforce, entirely devoted to religious study. They view yeshivas as fundamental to the preservation of Judaism, as important to Israel’s defense as the military.

Most Israelis believe ultra-Orthodox men should serve in the military, according to recent polls, but Haredi parties have been staunchly opposed to efforts to rescind the draft exemption. Netanyahu’s fragile government coalition relies on two Haredi parties – United Torah Judaism and Shas – to govern. He has for weeks been trying to advance legislation through Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, that would enshrine in law a draft exemption for Haredi men.

The decision comes at a critical time for a country at war for nearly nine months, and a prime minister whose far-right government lost its veneer of wartime solidarity earlier this month when Benny Gantz, an opposition leader, left Netanyahu’s war cabinet. And although Israel’s military chiefs publicly decry manpower shortfalls, this ruling is unlikely to result in large numbers of ultra-Orthodox men joining ranks anytime soon.

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

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

Israelis are bound by law to serve in the military from the age of 18 for 24-32 months. Members of Israel’s 21 percent Arab minority are mostly exempt, though some do serve, and ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students have also been largely exempt for decades.

CNN/ REUTERS