Israel’s Attorney General, Gali Baharav-Miara, has asked the High Court of Justice to invalidate the recently enacted law that bars the arrest of yeshiva students over military draft violations, arguing that the legislation is unconstitutional, undermines equality before the law, and conflicts with Israel’s security needs.

In the state’s formal response to petitions challenging the law, filed Friday through the Attorney General’s Office, the government urged the High Court to overturn the measure, contending that it causes severe harm to the constitutional principle of equality and fails to meet Israel’s constitutional standards.

According to the state’s filing, although lawmakers presented the legislation as a temporary measure pending the passage of a broader draft law, it effectively grants yeshiva students immunity from criminal enforcement related to military service obligations. The response argues that the law creates what it describes as a “group immunity mechanism,” preventing law enforcement authorities from exercising their legal powers against draft evaders and deserters who are yeshiva students while allowing enforcement against others.

The Attorney General’s Office further argued that the legislation constitutes “a severe violation of the constitutional right to equality.”

The state maintained that the law’s impact extends well beyond equality concerns, asserting that it places an even heavier burden on Israelis serving in the IDF at a time when the military says it urgently needs to expand the pool of recruits.

According to the filing, IDF officials warned lawmakers during the legislative process that the measure would “provide an incentive not to report for military service,” would “harm efforts to increase the number of members of the chareidi community serving in the military,” and “is inconsistent with the needs of the IDF.”

The state also argued that the legislation creates selective enforcement by exempting one category of individuals subject to military service from criminal enforcement while all other draft-eligible Israelis remain subject to the same legal consequences.

In addition, the Attorney General’s Office contended that the law contains no mechanism to increase enlistment among the chareidi population and therefore fails to achieve the objective its supporters claimed it was intended to serve.

Beyond criticizing the substance of the legislation, the state also took issue with the manner in which it was passed, arguing that the legislative process itself suffered from significant procedural flaws that compound the law’s constitutional deficiencies.

The filing describes the legislation as a law “so discriminatory, contrary to the security needs of the State of Israel and the public interest,” that “the unconstitutionality inherent in it speaks for itself.” It further concludes: “This law has no legal right to exist.”

The state ultimately asked the High Court to issue an order invalidating the law in its entirety, arguing that because the measure “is unconstitutional, its fate is nullification,” and therefore it should not remain in force.

{Matzav.com}