Israel’s Supreme Court Rules Military Must Conscript Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Men

Ultra-Orthodox Jews line up at an Israeli draft office to process their exemptions from mandatory military service at a recruitment base in Kiryat Ono, Israel, on March 28, 2024. (Hannah McKay/Reuters)

Israel’s highest judicial court ruled on June 25 that highly observant religious Jewish men should not be excluded from the country’s compulsory military requirements.

It also said the Israel Defense Forces must begin recruiting more of these men for service.

The unanimous decision was made by the Israeli Supreme Court, which sided with petitioners known as the Movement for Quality Government in Israel (MQG). The group had challenged the legality of exemptions protecting Orthodox Jewish scholars from the military.

Israeli law has generally required men and women to serve a term of military service after they turn 18, after which they can be called up for reserve duty until they turn 40.

Historically, while the conscription law has applied broadly to more secular Jewish citizens, those citizens following more Orthodox Jewish religious strictures, such as the Haredi, have been excluded.

Critics have called the exemptions discriminatory and challenged their legality.

The Supreme Court struck down a law that codified the religious exemptions for military duty in 2017; however, legal extensions and debate over changes to the law have disrupted enforcement of the service requirements.

The court wrote that in 1949, there were only about 400 Jewish religious students who avoided military service. Today, 63,000 religious students could be avoiding compulsory service.

It said continued non-enforcement of the military service requirements for religiously observant Jews could undermine the Israeli government during a period of prolonged war.

Israel is currently fighting a war in the Gaza Strip and has a burgeoning conflict with Hezbollah on its northern border with Lebanon.

“In these days, amidst a severe war, the ongoing inequality imposes a constant and acute burden; necessitating a sustainable solution to this issue,” the court wrote.

The decision could also upend government funding support for higher education institutions focusing on religious studies.

The court ruled religious schools in the country cannot receive government funding for students who do not have valid exemptions or deferrals for their military service obligations.

MQG celebrated the decision.

“Today’s High Court ruling is a recognition of the rightness of our way and the supreme importance of the principle of equality,” the movement wrote in a statement. “The Supreme Court has unequivocally ruled that there should be no discrimination between citizens in the obligation of military service and that the government must act without delay to correct the historical injustice.”

Eliad Sharga, chair of the MQG, said the decision “puts an end to 76 years of unlawful inequality and discrimination.”

The ruling could end Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition, which includes observant Orthodox Jewish religious elements.

Mr. Netanyahu’s governing coalition has 64 seats in the 120-member Parliament, which could collapse if he loses religious support.

Yitzhak Goldknopf, a cabinet member in the prime minister’s office and member of the Haredi Orthodox political party United Torah Judaism, described the decision as both “expected” and “disappointing” in a social media post.

“The State of Israel was established in order to be a home for the Jewish people whose Torah is the bedrock of its existence,” Mr. Goldknopf said. “The Holy Torah will prevail.”

The Associated Press contributed to this article.