The Supreme Court’s decision regarding the enlistment of the ultra-Orthodox was inevitable, and it shouldn’t be surprising that it was unanimously accepted. Anyone familiar with the sad stages of the issue knew that we have reached, both nationally and legally, the point where the agreed- upon lie that dismisses an entire community from service—about one-sixth of the men in each induction cycle—endangers Israel’s security and the model of the people’s army. Legally, the Supreme Court had no choice. The question is what should be done now, and what will actually happen.
The court relied quite a bit on the growing security needs since October 7, but the problem mustn’t be addressed with this aspect alone. It will be problematic if the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, upon hearing the army representatives, hastily drafts a law that will “meet the needs of manpower in the IDF” and not solve anything. The problem didn’t arise on October 7, and it concerns fundamental social values.
Therefore, the new law should be a complete model: a security service within various frameworks, including a true civil-security service that will meet the needs of the home front and serve as an alternative to military service, which will be able to absorb ultra-Orthodox in large numbers. It should be a real systemic response to absorb the ultra-Orthodox while maintaining other social values, linking compliance with the conscription obligation to the budgeting of ultra-Orthodox institutions, and a sincere effort by the security system, which had avoided fulfilling its obligations in previous arrangements, to reach a situation where ultra-Orthodox men serve at an age when they are of real use.
Will it happen? It’s probably not likely, given the nature of the current coalition. But once the decision has been made, the alternative is contempt of the court by the security system or a large blowout between the political camps. This is the result of decades of procrastination, and the Supreme Court has announced that it’s over.
The Supreme Court’s decision regarding the enlistment of the ultra-Orthodox was inevitable, and it shouldn’t be surprising that it was unanimously accepted. Anyone familiar with the sad stages of the issue knew that we have reached, both nationally and legally, the point where the agreed- upon lie that dismisses an entire community from service—about one-sixth of the men in each induction cycle—endangers Israel’s security and the model of the people’s army. Legally, the Supreme Court had no choice. The question is what should be done now, and what will actually happen.
The court relied quite a bit on the growing security needs since October 7, but the problem mustn’t be addressed with this aspect alone. It will be problematic if the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, upon hearing the army representatives, hastily drafts a law that will “meet the needs of manpower in the IDF” and not solve anything. The problem didn’t arise on October 7, and it concerns fundamental social values.
Therefore, the new law should be a complete model: a security service within various frameworks, including a true civil-security service that will meet the needs of the home front and serve as an alternative to military service, which will be able to absorb ultra-Orthodox in large numbers. It should be a real systemic response to absorb the ultra-Orthodox while maintaining other social values, linking compliance with the conscription obligation to the budgeting of ultra-Orthodox institutions, and a sincere effort by the security system, which had avoided fulfilling its obligations in previous arrangements, to reach a situation where ultra-Orthodox men serve at an age when they are of real use.
Will it happen? It’s probably not likely, given the nature of the current coalition. But once the decision has been made, the alternative is contempt of the court by the security system or a large blowout between the political camps. This is the result of decades of procrastination, and the Supreme Court has announced that it’s over.