Israel’s High Court Orders End to Ultra-Orthodox Draft Deferments

Jerusalem, 25 June, 2024 (TPS) -- An Ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) man in Jerusalem passes by a draft/recruitment center for the Israel Defense Forces on the same day that the Israel Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the members of their community must serve in the Israeli military just like everyone else.

Military service is compulsory for all Israeli citizens. However, Israel’s first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, and the country’s leading rabbis agreed to a status quo that deferred military service for Orthodox men studying in yeshivot, or religious institutions. At the time, no more than several hundred men were studying in yeshivot.

Jerusalem, June 25, 2024
Photo by Yoav Dudekovich/TPS IL