Israel’s high court ruled unanimously on Tuesday that ultra-Orthodox Jews must be drafted into the army and that yeshiva religious seminaries should not receive government funding if their students do not enlist.
Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, in 1948 agreed to exempt the ultra-Orthodox from the draft after the vast majority of the community in Europe was wiped out in the Nazi Holocaust. Over decades, successive governments have let the exemption stand, and 15 court rulings telling the government to legislate on the question have been ignored.
More than 60,000 ultra-Orthodox men of military age are exempt from the draft and the number grows each year due to the high birth rate in the community. The court did not state how many must be drafted immediately, leaving it for the army and the government to decide, and the process is liable to be gradual. Many of the yeshiva students will not be capable of filling combat or technology positions.