Conscription of yeshiva students

In 2012, service became mandatory with a penalty of imprisonment for up to five years for draft-dodgers, although that law had never been enforced until 2024 during the Israel-Hamas war and Israeli invasion of Lebanon.

[1] A petition led to a 1998 high-court ruling that the Minister of Defense Act was not intended to exempt the Orthodox community on such a large scale, and new Knesset legislation was required.

[3] With its expiration IDF service became mandatory for all members of the Haredi community, with a penalty (imprisonment for up to five years) for those who refuse to enlist.

He said that in the IDF there is Gilui Arayos (sexual immorality), Shfichus Damim (bloodshed), and Avodah Zarah (idolatry), but greater than these 3 cardinal sins is the Chilul Hashem that a country calling itself the Jewish State should put quotas on Torah learning.

[13] Leading rabbis from the conservative wing of the national religious community (including Shmuel Eliyahu, Mordechai Sternberg, Micha Halevi and Shlomo Aviner) supported the rally,[14] and a group of nationalist haredi rabbis issued a proclamation calling on the public to participate in the religious, Zionist rally.

[15] Other groups, such as the Tzohar and Beit Hillel rabbinical associations,[14] and rabbis from the religious Zionist community (including Haim Druckman)[14][16] opposed the protest.

[20] No speeches were made at the rally, but at its end statements received by the Council of Torah Sages were read opposing the conscription of yeshiva and kolel students.

[31] On June 27, 2013, Haredim protested in front of the EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium against Israel attempting to draft Orthodox yeshiva students.