Israeli Government Legal Advisor Urges Supreme Court to Cancel Law Freezing Arrests of Draft-Dodging Yeshiva Students

The Israeli Attorney General, Gali Baharav-Miara, has urged the Supreme Court to annul the recently passed law that freezes the arrests of yeshiva students evading military service. In her response to petitions against the law, she requested that the court convert the current interim injunction, which suspended the law's implementation, into a permanent order to cancel it. The law, approved in the Knesset shortly before its dissolution, halts the detention of draft-dodging yeshiva students until November 30. However, due to Israel's ongoing election period, its validity is expected to extend automatically until the formation of the next government, likely in early 2027.

Baharav-Miara criticized the law as an extreme and flawed legislative arrangement that fails constitutional tests and should be invalidated. She argued that the law's true purpose is not to advance a new conscription framework or address security needs but to create a "mechanism of immunity" by freezing arrests, investigations, and enforcement actions against these students. This effectively grants a de facto exemption from military service at a time when the burden on regular and reserve soldiers is particularly heavy.

The Attorney General further stated that Amendment 28 to the Security Service Law severely violates the constitutional right to equality on two separate grounds, each justifying the law's cancellation. First, it imposes an increased burden on those serving in the regular army and reserves, especially as the IDF's manpower needs have grown significantly, a fact underscored by the recent extension of mandatory service from 30 to 32 months. Second, it creates discriminatory and selective criminal enforcement that contradicts the principle of equality before the law. Baharav-Miara also noted that the law was enacted despite opposition from security officials, including the IDF Chief of Staff, who warned that freezing enforcement would encourage draft evasion, harm recruitment efforts among the ultra-Orthodox, and conflict with the IDF's operational requirements.