Israel’s supreme court has ruled unanimously that the military must begin drafting ultra-Orthodox men for military service, a decision that could lead to the collapse of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition as Israel continues to wage war in Gaza.
The court ruled that in the absence of a law that distinguishes between Jewish seminary students and other draftees, Israel’s compulsory military service system applies to the ultra-Orthodox as with any other citizens.
Under longstanding arrangements, ultra-Orthodox men have been exempt from the draft, which is compulsory for most Jewish men and women. These exemptions have long been a source of anger among the secular public, a divide that has widened during the eight-month-old war, as the military has called up tens of thousands of soldiers and says it needs all the manpower it can get.
More than 600 Israeli soldiers have been killed in the conflict.
Politically powerful ultra-Orthodox parties, key partners in Netanyahu’s governing coalition, oppose any change. If the exemptions are ended, tensions within the coalition could cause the government to collapse and lead to new elections.
During arguments, government lawyers told the court that forcing ultra-Orthodox men to enlist would “tear Israeli society apart”.
The court’s decision comes at a sensitive time, as the war in Gaza drags on into its ninth month and the number of dead soldiers continues to mount.
The court found that the state was carrying out “invalid selective enforcement, which represents a serious violation of the rule of law, and the principle according to which all individuals are equal before the law.”
It did not say how many ultra-Orthodox should be drafted.
The court also ruled that state subsidies for seminaries where exempted ultra-Orthodox men study should remain suspended. The court temporarily froze the seminary budgets earlier this year.
In a post on X, the cabinet minister Yitzhak Goldknopf, who heads one of the ultra-Orthodox parties in the coalition, called the ruling “very unfortunate and disappointing”.
“The state of Israel was established in order to be a home for the Jewish people whose Torah is the bedrock of its existence. The Holy Torah will prevail,” he wrote.
Ultra-Orthodox Jews see their full-time religious study as their part in protecting the state of Israel. Many fear that greater contact with secular society through the military will distance adherents from strict observance of the faith.
Ultra-Orthodox men attend special seminaries that focus on religious studies, with little attention on secular topics such as maths, English or science. Critics have said they are ill-prepared to serve in the military or enter the secular workforce.
Religious women generally receive blanket exemptions that are not as controversial, in part because women are not expected to serve in combat units.
The ruling sets the stage for growing friction within the coalition between those who support drafting more ultra-Orthodox Jews and those who oppose the idea. Ultra-Orthodox lawmakers are likely to face intense pressure from religious leaders and their constituents and may have to choose whether remaining in the government is worthwhile for them.
Shuki Friedman, the vice-president of the Jewish People Policy Institute, a Jerusalem thinktank, said the ultra-Orthodox “understand that they don’t have a better political alternative, but at same time their public is saying ‘why did we vote for you?’”
The exemptions have faced years of legal challenges and a string of court decisions has found the system unjust. But Israeli leaders, under pressure from ultra-Orthodox parties, have repeatedly stalled. It remains unclear whether Netanyahu will be able to do so again.
Netanyahu’s coalition is buoyed by two ultra-Orthodox parties who oppose increasing enlistment for their constituents. The long-serving Israeli leader has tried to adhere to the court’s rulings while also scrambling to preserve his coalition. But with a slim majority of 64 seats in the 120-member parliament, he is often beholden to the pet issues of smaller parties.
Netanyahu has been promoting a bill tabled by a previous government in 2022 that sought to address the issue of ultra-Orthodox enlistment.
Critics say that bill was crafted before the war and does not do enough to address a pressing manpower shortfall as the army seeks to maintain its forces in the Gaza Strip while also preparing for potential war with the Lebanese Hezbollah group, which has been fighting with Israel since the war in Gaza erupted last October.
With its high birthrate, the ultra-Orthodox community is the fastest-growing segment of the population, at about 4% annually. Each year, roughly 13,000 ultra-Orthodox males reach the conscription age of 18, but less than 10% enlist, according to the Israeli parliament’s state control committee.