In a ruling that delivered a stinging rebuke to both the ultra-Orthodox community and the government, the High Court of Justice on Wednesday ordered the government to draw up effective enforcement measures, including criminal proceedings, against ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students who have refused to comply with IDF conscription orders.

In a unanimous decision, the court accused the government and state agencies of having almost “totally shirked” their responsibilities to enforce the law when it came to Haredi draft dodgers, which the court said constituted a violation of the state’s obligation to enforce its laws, and selective enforcement.

The court instructed the government to begin criminal proceedings against ultra-Orthodox men already deemed legally to be draft dodgers as quickly as possible, and to draw up within 45 days civil and economic enforcement measures deemed to have a high chance of success against all those refusing to comply with conscription orders.

Supreme Court Deputy President Noam Sohlberg wrote the unanimous opinion for the court, and castigated the ultra-Orthodox community for its ongoing refusal to share in the burden of military service.

Sohlberg asserted that the security situation during the war was “a matter of life and death,” and drew on scripture and the words of rabbis held in the highest esteem by the Haredi community to demonstrate the critical importance of defending the country even alongside the value of studying Torah.

“We are talking about ethical and human principles which are so clear and simple that someone who was asking about whether Jewish law supported them would say ‘I don’t even need a Biblical verse, it’s just logical,’” wrote Sohlberg.

MK Yisrael Eichler of the ultra-Orthodox Agudat Yisrael party described the court as an “evil regime… trying to drag the country into a civil war against the Haredim,” and accused it of having “staged an anti-Jewish coup d’état.”

Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Yair Lapid welcomed the ruling, which he said determined that “the mass draft-dodging operation funded by the coalition is illegal and prohibited by law.”

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