Israel’s High Court of Justice on Thursday unanimously struck down legislation that had frozen arrests and other enforcement measures against Chareidi bnei yeshivos who failed to report for military service, dealing another major blow to efforts to protect lomdei Torah from arrest amid the ongoing draft crisis.
All nine justices on the expanded panel agreed that a fundamental defect in the legislative process required the law to be invalidated. Eight of the nine went further, ruling that the measure was also unconstitutional because it severely violated the constitutional principle of equality.
The ruling came in response to five petitions challenging the validity of the legislation, including one submitted by the Israel Hofsheet organization.
Deputy Supreme Court President Noam Sohlberg authored the principal opinion. The other members of the nine-justice panel were Daphne Barak-Erez, David Mintz, Yael Willner, Ofer Grosskopf, Alex Stein, Gila Canfy-Steinitz, Yechiel Kasher and Ruth Ronnen.
The court unanimously concluded that the amendment ultimately approved by the Knesset departed substantially from the subject matter of the original bill that had passed its first reading. According to the justices, that violated Section 85 of the Knesset Rules of Procedure.
Because the final measure differed so significantly from what had initially cleared the Knesset, the court determined that, for legal purposes, it was effectively legislation that had never passed a first reading. The justices characterized the procedural flaw as fundamental and sufficient on its own to require the law’s cancellation.
Eight members of the panel also concluded that the legislation was unconstitutional on substantive grounds. They found that the amendment inflicted a serious violation on the core constitutional right to equality and failed to satisfy the legal requirements necessary to justify such an infringement.
Justice David Mintz dissented from that portion of the ruling, although he joined the other eight justices in finding that the procedural defect required the law to be struck down.
The court consequently issued a final order completely invalidating the amendment, eliminating the legal protection that had halted arrest and enforcement proceedings against Chareidi draft-eligible men who do not report to the IDF.
The legislation had been advanced amid the escalating battle over the status of bnei yeshivos, who have been instructed by Gedolei Yisroel not to report for military service. It was intended to stop the arrests of those who did not appear at IDF induction offices and to freeze enforcement measures against them.
The Knesset approved the measure in July by a vote of 58-54 following an intense political and legal battle over the arrests of bnei Torah.
After the legislation passed, Degel HaTorah chairman MK Moshe Gafni hailed the vote as an important achievement in defending the olam haTorah.
“We promised and we delivered. This is an important step in protecting the Torah world and those who study it, out of recognition of the importance of Torah study to the Jewish people and the State of Israel,” Gafni said at the time.
Shas chairman MK Aryeh Deri also celebrated the legislation following its passage, portraying it as a rebuke to the government’s legal establishment over its treatment of lomdei Torah.
“The Knesset said in a clear voice to the dismissed attorney general: Enough of the persecution and enough of the hatred toward those who study Torah. The majority of the people of Israel love the Torah, respect those who study it and understand that they preserve the identity and spirit of the Jewish people. Do not allow the attorney general and the various inciters to divide us,” Deri said.
Thursday’s decision wipes away the legislation in its entirety, once again leaving bnei yeshivos who have not reported for military service exposed to arrest and other enforcement measures as the broader confrontation over the status of the olam hayeshivos remains unresolved.
{Matzav.com}
