Israeli Supreme Court rules ultra-Orthodox must serve in the military

The decision follows years of controversy, in which the once small ultra-Orthodox minority has mushroomed into a million-strong community that makes up more than 12 percent of the population whose political parties have backed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalitions in exchange for their exemption from military service.

They are the fastest-growing minority and receive government subsidies for privately run schools and religious and social organizations. For years, there has been a movement of lawmakers to cut them off, condemning the systems that allow their quasi-autonomous societies to exist within Israel, all while eschewing taxes (because few work) or military service (because few enlist).

The ultra-Orthodox have long argued that their study of Torah makes up the spiritual backbone on which the military can fight.

But as Israel faces wars on multiple fronts, many Israelis say they can no longer afford to support them.

“This is the best ruling that we could have asked for,” Ayelet Hashachar Saidoff, a founder of the Mothers’ Front, an organization that has lobbied for the enlistment of ultra-Orthodox men, told the Reshet Bet radio station Monday.

For the past year, the organization has been lobbying for the ultra-Orthodox to “equally share the burden” of citizenship, specifically military enlistment — a common theme in previous Israeli national elections and one that has been central to debates about the country’s efforts to prioritize its democratic nature over its religious one.

Hashachar Saidoff dismissed calls from some ultra-Orthodox leaders to formulate special preparations and accommodations to make their enlistment possible, saying, “has anyone asked the mothers of the soldiers who have been in Gaza for eight months if they are ready for it? No one asks them anything. … Why is an ultra-Orthodox citizen worth more than my child?”

The chairman of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, Aryeh Deri, was defiant and said in a statement that “there is no force in the world that can disconnect the people of Israel from Torah study, and anyone who has tried in the past has failed miserably.”

The tensions have come into sharper focus in the nine months since Oct. 7, when Hamas killed about 1,200 people in Israel and dragged about 250 more as hostages into Gaza. The resulting war has killed more than 37,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, which do not distinguish between combatants and civilians but say the majority of the dead are women and children.

On the border with Lebanon, Israel has been exchanging deadly fire with the Iranian-backed group Hezbollah. Counterterrorism raids are increasing in the West Bank, too, where Hamas and other armed militant groups have been recruiting for years.

As more and more Israeli soldiers are killed, resentment for the ultra-Orthodox has been mounting.

According to a survey by the Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI), a nonpartisan think tank based in Jerusalem, 81 percent of Jewish Israelis favor changing the ultra-Orthodox exemption, with 45 percent supporting “coercive” measures and 36 percent preferring “persuasive” methods.

But Shuki Friedman, vice president of the JPPI, said that as pressure mounts to revoke widespread draft exemptions for yeshiva students, viewed as a break in the social contract, the ultra-Orthodox, similarly, face a dilemma.

“On the one hand, they want to prevent this disaster, from their perspective. But on the other hand, if the government will collapse and go to elections, the result might be less good and they can get even less of a compromise for their side,” he said.

While polling has been mixed, new elections could bring to power a coalition less favorable to the ultra-Orthodox.

Israel Cohen, a commentator on the ultra-Orthodox radio station Kol Berama, said the community realizes that, post-Oct. 7, it has to compromise. He said it has so far directed its ire against the Supreme Court and will grant Netanyahu a short grace period to draft a law that would take into consideration the new reality, while ensuring the ultra-Orthodox are able to hold on to their values.

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

Parker reported from Jerusalem