Supreme Court Strikes Down Law Halting Draft Evasion Arrests for Haredim

Israel's Supreme Court unanimously nullified a law passed in July that froze the arrest of ultra-Orthodox men evading military conscription. The ruling, delivered by a panel of nine justices, found the law unconstitutional, stating it severely infringes upon the fundamental right to equality and fails to meet the limitations clause requirements.

In the main opinion, Deputy President Noam Sohlberg, with the agreement of all justices, determined that the amendment significantly deviated from the bill's initial version passed in its first reading. This procedural flaw, he argued, violated Knesset regulations and constituted a fundamental defect in the legislative process, necessitating the law's cancellation.

The court issued an absolute order canceling the amendment. The justices who ruled on the case were Deputy President Noam Sohlberg, and Justices Daphne Barak-Erez, David Mintz, Yael Willner, Ofer Grosskopf, Alex Stein, Gila Kenfy-Steinitz, Yechiel Kasher, and Ruth Ronen. Justice David Mintz was the sole dissenting voice.

The legislation had aimed to halt arrests for draft evasion specifically for members of the ultra-Orthodox community who had not presented themselves for enlistment.