Israeli Court Ends Seminary Students’ Draft Exemption

JERUSALEM —  In a decision that delighted secular Israelis and outraged many ultra-Orthodox Jews, the Supreme Court on Wednesday declared illegal a decades-old agreement between the government and religious leaders that has exempted thousands of Jewish seminary students from military service.

Taking up an issue that is a focal point of Israel’s increasingly bitter religious-secular divide, the court ordered parliament to enact legislation within a year to change the status quo, which allows as many as 30,000 seminary students each year to avoid the army service that is mandatory for most other young Israelis, including women.

“It’s a historic decision,” exulted Amnon Rubinstein, a leftist lawmaker who was among the court’s petitioners. “We are determined to put an end to this scandal in which the sons of a whole sector of society do not serve in the army.”

Legal analysts also described the decision by the 11-member panel as momentous. Until Wednesday, the court had declined to rule on the question, terming it a political issue that legislators should decide.

Several small ultra-Orthodox parties, members of the fragile coalition of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, reacted to the decision with anger and alarm.

“If we will not be able to study here, then there is nothing for us to look for here, and we will not live here in the land of Israel,” said Meir Porush, deputy minister of housing and a member of parliament from the United Torah Judaism party.

Other ultra-Orthodox Israelis vowed that seminary students would never serve in the army, even under the threat of arrest.

Rabbi Avraham Ravitz, another lawmaker from United Torah Judaism, said a solution must be found that will allow those who genuinely dedicate their lives to the study of the Torah--the scriptures and Jewish law--to continue doing so. But he acknowledged that some had abused the system and should not be exempt from serving up to three years in the military, as required of others.

“We agree that if there are boys who are not studying and are taking advantage of today’s situation, . . . they should join the army,” Ravitz said.

From the early years of the Jewish state, under an arrangement first reached in 1954 between Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, and the religious establishment, seminary students have been allowed to skip military service.

In recent years, however, the number of exemptions has skyrocketed, sparking deep resentment among secular Israelis and the many observant Jews who have chosen to serve. From several hundred exemptions in the 1950s, the figure has grown to about 30,000 annually--about 10% of the eligible draft pool.

Religious women and Israeli Arabs are not required to serve.

The inequity regarding military service was among the issues in a student strike that shut down universities for about six weeks, ending only recently. Student leaders cheered Wednesday’s decision.

“Everyone born in this country should have the same rights and responsibilities,” said Lior Varona, 26, chairman of the student union at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University.

In the parliament, or Knesset, Rubinstein said he and other members of the leftist Meretz Party will propose legislation soon to set a lower figure for exemptions, perhaps about 3,000. But he said he hopes to work with the religious parties to reach a solution without confrontation.