Starting Monday, Israel’s government must stop funding ultra-Orthodox young men who study in yeshivas – strict religious seminaries – and do not join the army.
This interim order from the Supreme Court, issued on Thursday evening, is causing strong domestic political reactions.
Representatives of the two ultra-Orthodox parties, United Torah Judaism and Shas, accused the Supreme Court of an “unprecedented hunt for Torah scholars in the Jewish state.” The verdict is a disgrace. No compromises will be made.
The two parties are coalition partners in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and have fundamentally rejected the drafting of young yeshiva students into the armed forces for decades.
Exempt from military service since the founding of the state
Since the founding of Israel, young ultra-Orthodox men have been more or less exempt from compulsory military service. It…
