The Supreme Court has issued a dramatic ruling regarding the law intended to freeze law enforcement against Ultra-Orthodox deserters, thereby preventing their arrests and investigations. The decision was reached unanimously by an expanded panel of nine justices, led by Deputy President Noam Sohlberg. The panel included Justices Daphne Barak-Erez, David Mintz, Yael Willner, Ofer Grosskopf, Alex Stein, Gila Canfi-Steinitz, Yechiel Kasher, and Ruth Ronen.
The ruling was handed down in the context of five petitions filed against the amendment, including by Leader of the Opposition Yair Lapid and Member of Knesset Avigdor Liberman. At the core of the petitions was the claim that the law grants criminal immunity to draft evaders, thereby severely harming the principle of equal burden-sharing and the rule of law, especially during wartime when the burden of military service falls on conscripts and reservists.
Deputy President Sohlberg, who wrote the primary opinion with the concurrence of the other justices, determined that the legislative amendment suffered from a severe procedural flaw. It was determined that the law deviated significantly from the subject matter of the original bill as passed in the first reading, thus violating the Knesset Rules of Procedure. Consequently, the panel ruled that the bill had effectively not passed its first reading, necessitating its immediate repeal.
Beyond the procedural flaw, eight out of the nine justices found it necessary to rule on the constitutional level as well. Leading the majority opinion, it was determined that the law is inherently unconstitutional, as it severely violates the right to equality in a manner that fails the tests of the Limitation Clause. Justice David Mintz remained in the minority regarding the constitutional determination itself but concurred with the repeal of the law due to the procedural flaw in the legislative process.
This marks the culmination of a complex legal proceeding, which previously included the issuance of a temporary order by Justice Ofer Grosskopf freezing the law's entry into force due to significant concerns regarding selective enforcement and harm to serving populations. This decision effectively restores the legal status quo, allowing for the continuation of enforcement and arrest proceedings against deserters as they existed prior to the attempted amendment. The Supreme Court's decision constitutes a significant milestone in Israel's heated public and legal debate regarding the recruitment of yeshiva students and the core of military service.