Israel’s Land Authority officially enacted a new policy Sunday barring individuals classified as draft evaders from participating in government-subsidized housing lotteries, marking a significant escalation in efforts to pressure military-age citizens to regularize their status with the IDF.
The move follows a recent High Court ruling ordering the government to revoke various state benefits from individuals designated by the military as draft-eligible citizens who failed to resolve their enlistment status.
Under the newly published decision by the Israel Land Authority Council, eligibility for participating in discounted housing programs such as “Target Price Housing” will now depend on military records confirming that neither the applicant nor a spouse is classified by the IDF as a draft evader who has not arranged his or her legal status.
According to the decision, sections 4.7.19 and 4.7.20 of the Israel Land Council regulations governing subsidized housing tenders were formally amended to include the new restrictions.
The policy change comes roughly one month after Israel’s High Court ruled that certain government benefits should be denied in order to encourage military enlistment. The justices emphasized at the time that the measures constituted the revocation of benefits rather than the denial of inherent legal rights.
As part of that ruling, the court specifically instructed the Israel Land Authority to convene and formulate a policy regarding eligibility for housing discounts — a directive now implemented through Sunday’s announcement.
The court also ruled that resolving one’s military status with the IDF would become a prerequisite for receiving additional state subsidies and discounts, including daycare assistance, after-school program subsidies, public transportation discounts, and municipal property tax reductions.
The judges noted that these measures represent only an initial phase and stressed that additional enforcement actions may still be necessary in the future.
In the same ruling, the High Court also criticized Israeli police for previously refusing to cooperate with the military in detaining draft deserters until military police arrived. Since then, the issue has gained renewed attention following a policy shift announced by Police Commissioner Danny Levy regarding police cooperation with military enforcement efforts.