Aljazeera Source Apr 1, 2024
Israeli Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara has sent a letter to the ministries of defence and education telling them that ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students must be drafted into the military starting April 1.
She wrote that there will be “no source of authority” for a blanket exemption from military conscription for Haredi students, according to multiple Israeli outlets.
The attorney general also demanded a “supplementary declaration” by the state by April 30 on how obligations on drafting ultra-Orthodox Jews are being met.
A law deferring conscription for the students had expired in June 2023, and the exemptions were being enforced via a cabinet resolution passed at the time.
The Israeli High Court on Thursday ordered a freeze on state financial support to ultra-Orthodox yeshivas receiving deferrals from military service after the resolution expires.
Mar 2, 2024
Israel has called on its reserves to wage its ground war on Gaza. But its Ultra-Orthodox Jewish community has an exemption to military service going back decades. Now, the Defence Minister says they need to join the fight. But can a national consensus be reached on such a divisive issue? And can Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government survive the fallout from such a policy change?
