Supreme Court rules that Israel’s Haredi must perform military service

But in a country where military service is mandatory and the number of battlefields continues to grow, Israelis from across the political spectrum are demanding a change in the status quo, and on Tuesday the Supreme Court made that demand official.

“In the midst of a grueling war, the burden of inequality is greater than ever and demands a solution,” said Judge Uzi Vogelman, one of the nine judges who signed the ruling.

Haredi leaders expressed their defiance, declaring that their religious studies were the spiritual backbone of the nation.

“There is no power in the world that can stop the Israeli people from studying the Torah, and everyone who has tried in the past has failed miserably,” said Aryeh Deri, leader of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, in response to the ruling.

The ultra-Orthodox receive state subsidies for their private schools – where some young men devote their lives to studying the Torah – and for other religious and social organizations. The community is largely autonomous and isolated from the rest of society; few members work, pay taxes or serve in the military.

With Israel currently embroiled in its longest war on record in Gaza and a second war looming in Lebanon, the judges can no longer afford to absolve the ultra-Orthodox from their responsibilities as citizens. The decision follows a similar ruling by the court in March, in which it ordered the end of state subsidies to ultra-Orthodox yeshivas, where young men study instead of joining the military.

Michal Feuer, mother of two soldiers, said she was “very happy” when she heard of the court’s decision on Tuesday. She and thousands of others like her joined forces last year to form Mothers on the Front, a group dedicated to fighting the ultra-Orthodox exemption.

“I have been against this injustice for years,” she said. “In several elections in the past, I have voted for people who have made this one of their platforms.”

After October 7, when Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people in Israel and took about 250 more hostage to Gaza, the issue “took on a completely different dimension,” she said.

“Hundreds of soldiers have been killed and thousands injured, and the army needs soldiers,” she said.

Feuer’s older son, who is 21, finished his military service in April and was immediately drafted into the reserves. He spent three months in Gaza and the last few months on the northern border with Lebanon. Her younger son, nearly 19, was taking a year off after high school and doing volunteer work when he was “pulled out in the middle of it and drafted,” she said.

When her older son was in Gaza, she said, “there were weeks when I didn’t hear from him. You don’t know what’s happening – you feel like you’re just waiting for the knock on the door.”

“In Hebrew we have a saying: ‘There is an Orthodox mother and there is a fearful mother,’ because they don’t understand that fear.”

Israel’s bitter war in Gaza has claimed more than 37,000 Palestinian lives, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The ministry makes no distinction between fighters and civilians, but says the majority of the dead are women and children. Troops continue to battle Hamas across the enclave, and Netanyahu said this week that fighting would continue even after major fighting has ended.

Deadly gunfire has broken out between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters on the border with Lebanon, and both sides have said they are preparing for war.

As more Israeli soldiers are killed – at least 333, according to the Israel Defense Forces – and others return home with physical and psychological wounds, resentment against the Haredim is growing.

According to a poll by the Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI), a nonpartisan think tank based in Jerusalem, 81 percent of Jewish Israelis support changing the exemption for ultra-Orthodox Christians, while 45 percent support “coercive measures” and 36 percent prefer “persuasive” methods.

Shuki Friedman, vice president of the JPPI, said the ultra-Orthodox now face a political dilemma.

“On the one hand, from their point of view, they want to prevent this catastrophe. But on the other hand, if the government collapses and new elections are called, the outcome could be less good and they could reach even fewer compromises for their side,” he said.

Polls have repeatedly shown that Netanyahu would find it difficult to form a governing coalition without the support of ultra-Orthodox parties, which also played an important role in previous governments.

A statement from the prime minister’s Likud party on Tuesday said the Supreme Court’s ruling was “relevant only for a short period of time” and that it was “strange” that it issued its decision at a time when the government is pushing forward an older law – once opposed by the ultra-Orthodox – that allows for partial recruitment of Haredim.

Ultra-Orthodox politicians under Netanyahu’s leadership are likely to use delaying tactics to slow recruitment, said Yitzik Crombie, a Haredi activist who advocates for the integration of members of the community into Israel’s high-tech sector.

“Haredi leaders must decide whether they want to be part of Israeli society or just guests,” Crombie said. “Now we are in a moment where it is not just about destiny – after the Holocaust we came here and built a country – but also about what our mission is.”

There are many practical considerations: how many men will be drafted, how will those who refuse be punished, and how will kosher food requirements, prayer times and other daily rituals, be factored into the grueling military schedule. The Israel Defense Forces have said they are ready to accept the recruits, but their induction into the ranks is likely to test the momentum of the “People’s Army,” long revered here as a symbol of national unity.

Israel Cohen, a commentator for the ultra-Orthodox radio station Kol Berama, said on Tuesday that the community was aware that it would have to make compromises after October 7. So far, it has directed its anger not at Netanyahu but at the Supreme Court, giving it a short grace period to draft a law that would recognize the new reality while ensuring that the ultra-Orthodox could hold on to their values.

“Now it’s time for Netanyahu to pass a law,” Cohen said. “And if not, their support for this government will disappear.”

Parker reported from Jerusalem.