Supreme Court ends military exemption for ultra-Orthodox Jewish men; Gallant asks US to back mission in Lebanon

26 Jun 2024

Israel’s Supreme Court ordered the government to start conscripting ultra-Orthodox men into military service, a landmark ruling that could test the ruling coalition of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Israel’s Supreme court calls ultra-Orthodox men into army as crisis brews

Israel’s Supreme Court ordered the government to begin conscripting ultra-Orthodox men into military service, a landmark ruling that could test the ruling coalition of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Tuesday decision — which also called for the state to stop funding seminaries whose students avoid the draft — highlights an issue that has long divided Israel and become particularly emotive since the start of the ongoing war with Hamas in October. Israel operates a system of mandatory military service but the ultra-Orthodox, known as Haredim, have been exempt since the early days of the state.

Two religious parties joined with Netanyahu’s Likud in late 2022 to form a government on the understanding that their longstanding exclusion from being called up would be encoded into law. The court’s focus on equality is one of the reasons the government spent much of 2023 trying to limit the power of the judiciary.

Read more: Netanyahu coalition in crisis over religious draft as war rages

The justices wrote that the present system “creates severe discrimination between those who are required to serve and those whose recruitment procedures are not taken”.

Israel has called up hundreds of thousands of reservists since the invasion by Hamas militants on 7 October, which triggered the Gaza conflict. Many secular Israelis say the war — and the likelihood of higher defence spending for years to come due to threats from the likes of Hezbollah in Lebanon — makes it more unacceptable that religious Jews are exempt from military service.

“These days, in the midst of a difficult war, the burden of inequality is more acute than ever,” the court said in the ruling from a unanimous expanded Bench of nine justices.

The drafting of Haredi men would probably deliver a boost for Israel’s economy, as it would relieve some of the burden from the technology and business sectors whose workforces make up most of Israel’s reserve forces. A plan to lengthen military service both for conscripts and reservists is expected to cost 100 billion shekels ($27-billion) in expenses and lost productivity over the next decade, a figure that would be reduced if the ultra-Orthodox are drafted.

Exemption from military service for the Haredim dates from when David Ben Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister, agreed to permit some 400 Haredi students to study in seminaries, or yeshivas, rather than be drafted.

The policy had little impact when they were a tiny minority. But as Israel has grown wealthy, the group’s numbers have exploded and now constitute some 14% of Israel’s 10 million population, and an even larger share of recruitment-aged Israelis. The court quoted the state as saying there are currently 63,000 young draft-age Haredi men.

Benny Gantz, a leader of the opposition who recently left Netanyahu’s war Cabinet, blamed the prime minister for the impasse, urging him to “reach agreements that will serve the country’s security needs” and not isolate different parts of society.

A spokesman for Likud said a “historic conscription law” was already working its way through parliament which would “significantly increase the recruitment rates of the ultra-Orthodox public”.

Elections aren’t scheduled till 2026 and the Haredi parties may in any case decide their best bet is to stick with Netanyahu rather than try to form a new coalition with those further to the left.

Israel’s government had made overhauling the country’s judicial system a top priority before 7 October, sparking massive protests mostly by secular Israelis who argued that the planned changes would undermine the country’s democracy.

Read more: Why Israel is bitterly split by a judiciary overhaul: QuickTake

Haredim, whose dress and customs — white shirt, black trousers, coat and skullcap — stem from Eastern Europe, seek to be left alone to study and pray. They fear that forcing their young into the Israeli military will lure them from a cloistered existence into secular sin.

Many Haredi men spend their days, as did their fathers, in large seminary halls studying sacred texts, but hold few jobs. They receive state subsidies and their wives mostly work.

Israel’s Gallant calls on US to support mission against Hezbollah

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant urged US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to support the country in its conflict with Hezbollah in neighbouring Lebanon, saying the world was watching for signs of strain in the relationship between the two allies.

Israel’s military said last week that operational planning for an offensive in Lebanon had been approved, after months of cross-border fire between the two sides started to escalate. The US has been striving to prevent a full-blown war with the Iran-backed militant group, which would open a second front to the ongoing conflict with Hamas in Gaza.

During a meeting with Blinken in Washington, Gallant “emphasised the importance of the US standing with Israel in this mission, and its impact on the actions taken by Hezbollah and Iran”, according to a statement from his office on Tuesday.

“The eyes of both our enemies and our friends are on the relationship between the US and Israel,” said Gallant. “We must resolve the differences between us quickly and stand together — this is how we will achieve our goals and weaken our enemies.”

The meeting took place days after US envoy Amos Hochstein made the most recent of several trips to the Middle East to ease tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, which like Hamas is considered a terrorist organisation by Washington. The US-Israel relationship has similarly shown signs of strain over the Gaza war, with Netanyahu accusing his ally of withholding weapons.

The White House has denied that arms have been held back, and a State Department account of the Blinken-Gallant encounter did not mention the dispute.

A top US military official warned on Sunday that — even if it gave full support — Washington may not be able to assist Israel against Hezbollah to the same extent as when it helped intercept missiles launched directly from Iran in April.

It would be harder to fend off the shorter-range rockets favoured by the group, said Charles Brown, chairperson of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, in comments reported by the Associated Press. Such a conflict would also risk drawing a fresh response from Tehran, he said.

Netanyahu said on Monday that the most intense phase of fighting in Gaza would soon be over, though he emphasised that the goal of eradicating Hamas as a governing and military entity remained the top priority. He added that he was also committed to ensuring the return of hostages still held in the enclave.

Blinken, the department said, discussed efforts to free the abductees and urged Gallant “to take additional steps to protect humanitarian workers in Gaza and deliver assistance throughout Gaza in full coordination with the United Nations”.

The secretary “also underscored the importance of avoiding further escalation of the conflict and reaching a diplomatic resolution that allows both Israeli and Lebanese families to return to their homes”.

Bloomberg opinion: Netanyahu’s strategy is war, war and more war: Marc Champion

Gallant was also expected to meet with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

About 1,200 people were killed in Israel during the 7 October attacks. Some 37,000 people have died in the ensuing war, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants.

Much of Gaza has been left in ruins by the conflict and the enclave’s population of more than two million people are battling shortages of food, water and healthcare, according to the United Nations. DM

Read more in Daily Maverick: Middle East Crisis news hub

Categories:

World

Tags:

DM is much better if you are signed in...

World

Israel’s Supreme court calls ultra-Orthodox men into army as crisis brews

Israel’s Gallant calls on US to support mission against Hezbollah