Supreme Court Orders Government to Impose Sanctions Within 45 Days on Yeshiva Students Who Dodge Draft Orders

The Israeli Supreme Court ruled today that the government must draw up and begin enforcing sanctions on ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students who do not report for military service, giving 45 days to present a full plan. The order requires both criminal action and a range of civil and economic penalties, making it the court’s most forceful intervention in years on the issue of Charedi enlistment. With the IDF facing a manpower shortage since October 7th, the justices said that enforcing the draft law has become a matter of national security, not just equality.

In its decision, the court said the government had “almost completely withdrawn” from enforcing the draft law on the Charedi community, calling this a violation of the state’s duty to uphold its own laws. The justices said that any new enforcement steps must be genuinely effective and lead to “real change,” warning the government not to create loopholes that keep the current situation in place. The ruling follows petitions filed after last year’s decision which stated that the government has no legal authority to grant blanket exemptions from military service, as found for Chareidim. Despite that ruling, almost no enforcement has taken place since, something which the court said it can no longer ignore.

According to the ruling, the government must begin opening criminal cases against Charedi draft evaders at levels similar to those brought against all other Israelis who don’t enlist. The court also ordered the state to create tough civil and economic sanctions that are likely to work in practice, including stopping the benefits given to yeshiva students who study instead of serving, such as monthly stipends and related grants. 

Reactions were given across the political spectrum. MK Yisrael Eichler of United Torah Judaism said, “The evil regime in the Supreme Court is trying to drag the country into a civil war against the ultra-Orthodox.” He called the ruling a “mass arrest order” for Torah students and described the judiciary as a “dictatorship.” 

From within the coalition, the Religious Zionism party said that internal coalition announcements are meaningless without an actual rise in Charedi enlistment. “Press releases are not a work plan… Only a law that changes the existing reality and actually drafts Haredim will pass with us,” the party said.

Opposition leaders accused the government of mishandling both the draft crisis and national security. Avigdor Lieberman said that Israel’s security “is being abandoned by cowards who cling to their seats and the pleasures of power.” Benny Gantz said the coalition has “no green light” to continue avoiding equal service and is allowing mass draft evasion for political survival. Former prime minister Naftali Bennett pledged that if he returns to power, he will cancel what he called a “disgraceful anti-Zionist law.”

The court’s decision creates an immediate deadline for the government: either pass a new draft law quickly or begin broad enforcement within weeks. If legislation continues to stall, ministries will need to show actual criminal cases, practical sanctions, and clear termination of benefits for those who remain in yeshiva instead of reporting for service. The justices emphasized that equal burden-sharing and national security now require immediate, concrete action.