IDF Chief Criticizes Law Preventing Arrests of Ultra-Orthodox Draft Dodgers as Fundamentally Flawed

Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi sharply criticized the government’s promotion of a law aimed at preventing the arrest of ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students who evade military service. He described the legislation as "fundamentally flawed," even after the Israeli Supreme Court temporarily froze its implementation. The comments were made during a discussion in the IDF General Staff forum, where Kochavi emphasized that the military repeatedly voiced its opposition to the law to political leaders, but was ignored.

Kochavi also expressed doubts about the law’s ability to withstand legal scrutiny and instructed senior IDF officials to closely monitor ongoing judicial developments. According to sources present at the meeting, this directive was interpreted as a call to ensure continued cooperation between the military police and civilian police in enforcing the law and arresting draft evaders.

Prior to the law’s approval, Kochavi had already sent a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman, stating that the IDF would not endorse mass exemptions from military service for ultra-Orthodox individuals. The Supreme Court’s freeze on the law reflects ongoing legal and societal tensions surrounding the conscription of the ultra-Orthodox community in Israel.