Israel court halts law blocking ultra-Orthodox draft dodger arrests

JERUSALEM (AFP) — Israel’s Supreme Court suspended on Wednesday a contentious law passed just the previous day that would have blocked the arrest of Jewish ultra-Orthodox men who refuse military service.

The court said it was issuing a “temporary order suspending” the enforcement of the law after opposition leaders Yair Lapid and Avigdor Liberman and others petitioned against the legislation.

The Israeli Parliament approved the legislation on Tuesday, drawing sharp criticism from the opposition as the army struggles with a shortage of personnel.

The court said it was suspending the law as it applies “to only certain segments of the population,” and added that “the hearing on the petitions will be held as soon as possible.”

Leaders of the insular ultra-Orthodox community have long opposed the conscription of its members, arguing that army service would pull young men away from religious study and erode their way of life.

Under an arrangement dating back to the country’s founding in 1948, ultra-Orthodox men engaged in full-time religious study have been exempt from military service.

But calls to draft them have intensified in recent years as Israel has become embroiled in multiple wars.

The Supreme Court has also repeatedly challenged the exemption, culminating in a 2024 ruling that the government must conscript ultra-Orthodox men.

The new law would have frozen arrests of draft‑age seminary students until Nov. 30 — well after the date of the Oct. 27 general election, in which ultra‑Orthodox parties are expected to back Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far‑right coalition.

This week the Parliament also passed a bill declaring the study of Jewish religious texts a “fundamental value” of the state, a move widely seen as strengthening the ultra-Orthodox community’s case for draft exemption.

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By Agence France-Presse