High Court strikes down law shielding haredi yeshiva students from arrest over draft evasion

The High Court of Justice unanimously struck down on Thursday an amendment that froze arrest, investigation, and enforcement proceedings against haredi (ultra-Orthodox) yeshiva students who failed to report for mandatory military service, with eight of the nine justices also ruling that the amendment does not meet the legal framework.

All nine High Court justices who heard the petitions issued the decision: Deputy Chief Justice Noam Sohlberg; justices Daphne Barak-Erez, David Mintz, Yael Wilner, Ofer Grosskopf, Alex Stein, Gila Canfy-Steinitz, Yechiel Kasher, and Ruth Ronnen.

High Court strikes down haredi draft enforcement freeze

The coalition passed the amendment on July 14, 2026. It ordered the suspension of all enforcement proceedings against members of the haredi community who were required to enlist but did not comply with their obligation to report for service under the Defense Service Law. Five petitions challenged the amendment's validity.

Sohlberg, who wrote the main opinion, ruled with the agreement of the full panel that the enacted amendment substantially departed from the subject of the bill that had passed its first reading, in violation of Section 85 of the Knesset Rules of Procedure.

The court therefore ruled that, in practice, the law had never passed its first reading, meaning the legislative process contained a fundamental defect that required the amendment to be struck down.