Israel to issue 54,000 call-up notices to ultra-Orthodox students
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A decades-old military conscription exemption for ultra-Orthodox students was overturned in 2024.
PHOTO: AFP
- Israeli military to call up 54,000 ultra-Orthodox seminary students after a Supreme Court ruling, addressing reservist strain.
- Ultra-Orthodox parties seek legislative compromise fearing secular integration will jeopardise religious identity.
- Military promises to respect the ultra-Orthodox way of life and develop integration programmes, issuing notices this month (REUTERS).
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TEL AVIV – Israel’s military said it would issue 54,000 call-up notices to ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students following a Supreme Court ruling mandating their conscription and amid growing pressure from reservists stretched by extended deployments.
The Supreme Court ruling in 2024
Military service is compulsory for most Israeli Jews from the age of 18, lasting 24 to 32 months, with additional reserve duty in subsequent years. Members of Israel’s 21 per cent Arab population are mostly exempt, though some do serve.
A statement by a military spokesperson confirmed the orders on July 6, just as local media reported legislative efforts by two ultra-Orthodox parties in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition to craft a compromise.
The exemption issue has grown more contentious
Ultra-Orthodox leaders in Mr Netanyahu’s brittle coalition have voiced concerns that integrating seminary students into military units alongside secular Israelis, including women, could jeopardise their religious identity.
The military statement promised to ensure conditions that respect the ultra-Orthodox way of life and to develop additional programmes to support their integration into the military. It said the notices would go out in July. REUTERS
