Israel supreme court rules religious seminary students must be drafted to military

Israel’s supreme court ruled on Tuesday that the government must draft ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students to the conscript military, a decree likely to send shock waves through prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s coalition.

Mr Netanyahu’s coalition relies for its survival on two ultra-Orthodox parties that regard long-standing conscription exemptions as key to keeping their constituents in religious seminaries and away from a melting-pot military that might test their conservative customs.

The ultra-Orthodox conscription waiver has become especially charged as Israel's armed forces, made up mostly of teenaged conscripts and older civilians mobilised for reserve duty, are overstretched by a multi-front war, in Gaza and Lebanon.

“At the height of a difficult war, the burden of inequality is more than ever acute,” the court's unanimous ruling said.

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Most Israelis are bound by law to serve in the military, whereas ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students have been largely exempt for decades. – Reuters

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