Israeli court says ultra-Orthodox men must serve in military – what happens now?

There are around 1.3 million ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel – and Benjamin Netanyahu relies on them (Picture: Lefteris Pitarakis)

Ultra-Orthodox men in Israel will be forced to serve in the country’s military after a controversial decision from its Supreme Court.

Israel’s highest court has today ruled unanimously that everyone over the age of 18 must join the Israeli Defence Force (IDF), or complete four months of obligatory national service.

The bombshell ruling looks set to end an obscure rule dating back to the country’s foundation in 1948, which granted ultra-Orthodox Jews – known as Hasidic or Haredim – an exemption from mandatory enlistment.

The rule was initially intended to allow Hasidic men to devote their lives to religious study.

But this exemption has long been unpopular among Israel’s secular Jewish majority, many of whom feel they bear unfair responsibility for protecting the country.

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities usually live in their own enclaves, separate from secular Israelis (Picture: Reuters)

On the other hand, Ultra-Orthodox leaders argue that military service conflicts with their religious duties.

Cabinet minister Yitzhak Goldknopf, who leads one of the ultra-Orthodox parties in Israel’s coalition government, called the ruling ‘unfortunate and disappointing’.

Tuesday’s unanimous ruling could have far-reaching consequences.

Experts say it could lead to the collapse of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, as the war in Gaza drags into its ninth month. Over 600 soldiers have been killed since Hamas’ Oct 7 attack, AP reports.

Who are the Haredi Jews?

Ultra-Orthodox Jews are sometimes referred to as Haredim, which means ‘one who trembles before God’ in Hebrew.

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish students study the Torah at the Ponevezh Yeshiva in Bnei Brak (Picture: AFP)

There are currently 1.3 million ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel, making up about an eighth of the population.

But the rapidly-growing community is expected to account for a quarter of the population by 2050, according to the Financial Times.

Ultra-Orthodox women tend to have more children than their secular counterparts. Haredi women have six children on average, compared with the national average of 2.5.

The Haredim in Israel usually live in closed, tight-knit communities with their own schools and strict practices.

Why are they exempt from Israel’s military service?

Many Haredi men devote their lives to studying the Torah (the Hebrew Bible) at yeshivas, Jewish schools where students read religious texts for hours each day.

Just 55.8% of Haredi men are part of the Israeli workforce, with most relying on generous government payments that support their studies.

Under a rule dating back to Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion’s regime in 1948, Jewish men who study the Torah full-time in a seminary are exempt from military conscription.

In 2023, it was reported that 66,000 ultra-Orthodox Jews were exempt from military service.

Around 1,000 ultra-Orthodox Jews leave their community and voluntarily enlist in the army each year. More than 2,000 Haredim signed up for military service in the first 10 weeks of the war after Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October.

However, those who do enlist risk being ostracised by their communities. Many Haredim are wary that joining the army means mixing with the opposite sex, which they believe is forbidden by the Torah.

What about ultra-Orthodox women?

Religious women generally receive blanket exemptions that are not as controversial, in part because they are not expected to serve in combat units.

It is unclear if the government plans to introduce further crackdowns to enlist more women.

How did the Haredi exemption come about?

The exemption issue has been a hot topic in Israel for years.

In 1977, the Israeli government removed the cap on the number of exemptions.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has come under pressure to scrap the exemption (Picture: AFP)

Then, in 1998, the country’s Supreme Court ruled that the exemption violated equal protection principles. However, the landmark case was not enough to end the conscription exemption in practice.

In 2017, Israel’s top court again held that the exemption was unconstitutional, but a permanent solution was not found.

The court ordered Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to explain why the exemption should continue by March 27 – but a meeting to form a plan was postponed at the last minute.

Men can seek military exemptions if they study the Torah full time (Picture Menahem Kahana / AFP)

A poll by Israel Democracy Voice found that 64% of Israelis support a change to religious military exemption in the country.

Many secular Israelis are frustrated at the lack of contribution from Haredim to the wider community, especially in the wake of the 7 October attacks.

Anger around the conscription exemption intensified when the government announced plans to extend the mandatory service period in February.

Defence Minister Yoav Gallant spoke out against the exemptions, declaring: ‘We must all bear the burden.’

A woman carries three babies as she reaches the central part of the Gaza Strip after fleeing the Al Shifa hospital compound in Gaza City on 21 March 2024 (Picture: AFP)

What is Netanyahu facing today?

Netanyahu’s government has been trying to pass the bill to address the Haredi military exemption.

He previously met with representatives from the two ultra-Orthodox parties in his coalition, United Torah Judaism and Shas, in an attempt to find a compromise on the controversial issue.

Benny Gantz, leader of the National Unity party, which is part of the current coalition government, previously vowed to resign if the government passes the bill.

The coalition government rests on a small majority, so any resignations could have a big impact, potentially leading to its collapse and new elections.

It remains unclear how many ultra-Orthodox should be drafted.

Why is the ultra-Orthodox exemption so controversial?

Scrapping the exemption would not be an easy task for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, known domestically as ‘Bibi’.

Professor Yaacov Yadgar, Director of Middle East Studies at the University of Oxford, told Metro.co.uk that ultra-Orthodox parties form an ‘integral part of the governing coalition’.

‘Given the small size of the coalition, small parties can topple it in a no-confidence vote,’ he said.

Netayahu, right, relies on ultra-Orthodox support (Picture: Menahem Kahana/AFP via Getty Images)

Professor Yadgar added: ‘For ultra-Orthodox parties, this is one of the fundamental issues they’d be willing to fight for, one of those red lines they wouldn’t want to cross.’

‘This is a highly charged moment.’

However, Professor Yadgar stressed that the recent court ruling may not lead to a decisive moment.

‘This would not be the first time the court has pushed for a decision and then political maneuvering has led to the granting of an extension,’ he said.

Netanyahu had promised to ‘find an agreement’ to change the rules around the Orthodox exemption, and set out plans to establish annual recruitment targets for Haredi men who study at yeshivas full-time. Under the plans, yeshivas would face a financial penalty if they failed to meet the target.

Netanyahu also said the IDF would look into establishing an ultra-Orthodox battalion.

But the plans have proved deeply unpopular with the ultra-Orthodox community.

Israel’s chief Sephardic rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, one of the most powerful religious figures in the country, has pledged that the ultra-Orthodox community will leave Israel if they are forced to join the army.

Orthodox Jews have protested against government’s plans for the Orthodox Jews to serve in the army for decades (Picture: AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

‘All these secular people don’t understand that without [religious schools], the army would not be successful…the soldiers only succeed thanks to those learning Torah,’ he said in a sermon.

In early March, hundreds of ultra-Orthodox men blocked a major highway in Bnei Brak, a Haredi city east of Tel Aviv. Some carried signs that said ‘we’ll go to jail over the army’ and ‘we will die and not enlist’.

Many of the protestors were members of the Jerusalem Faction, an extremist ultra-Orthodox group with around 60,000 members.

However, not all members of the ultra-Orthodox community oppose the proposed changes to the military exemption.

According to a poll by the Haredi Institute of Public Affairs, nearly 30% of Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community support conscription, which is 20 points higher than before the war.

Professor Yadgar said this could be linked to a wider phenomenon.

‘This might be camouflaging a deeper underground movement around ultra-Orthodox identity. A process of Israelization – breaking down of the walls of separation from wider Israeli politics – has been gradually going on for years.’

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