High Court rejects petition to draft haredim

The High Court of Justice rejected a petition to draft Israel's ultra-orthodox population on Sunday following the expiration of the haredi draft law at the end of June. 

While it could understand the frustration of petition filer Movement for Quality Government in Israel (MQG) over the long debate over the conscription issue, the court said that the expiration was fresh and the government could not be addressed within a reasonable amount of time by the government. 

The court said that all other options in addressing the new situation had not yet been exhausted. The MQG had only on June 26 and 29 sent letters to the Attorney-General's Office and the government calling on them to draft ultra-orthodox Israelis.

The MQG advocates for Haredi conscription

The MQG had argued last Sunday to the court that with the law on drafting yeshiva students expired, there was no reason for them to be exempt and that the state should conscript them. 

There was no reason for the military-age men not to enlist as with the rest of the Israeli population, MQG argued. The situation was discriminatory, the NGO said. 

The cabinet on June 25 approved a plan to pass a new haredi draft bill by March 31, 2024, which included a directive for the IDF not to draft the young men until the bill's passing.

The now-expired draft law was passed in 2014 creating allotments for yeshivas for haredi conscripts, but in 2017 the High Court deemed the bill unconstitutional and struck it down. Since then consecutive governments have requested court deferments on addressing the issue.