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Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara warns the Israeli government of violating a High Court ruling on military conscription, stressing the risk to Israel’s democracy and security.<\/p>\n
Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara<\/a> warned the High Court of Justice on Monday that the government is in active violation of a binding court ruling on military conscription, describing the conduct of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his cabinet as a danger to Israel\u2019s democratic system.<\/p>\n In a sharply worded response to petitions seeking sanctions for contempt of court, the attorney-general confirmed that the government has failed to implement the High Court\u2019s November ruling requiring equal enforcement of mandatory military service, including against ultra-Orthodox draft evaders<\/a>, and has taken no meaningful steps to comply with the decision.<\/p>\n \u201cThe government did not act to implement the judgment or the operative remedies directed at it, nor did it express any genuine intention to do so,\u201d Baharav-Miara wrote. \u201cThis constitutes a violation of the court\u2019s ruling.\u201d<\/p>\n The petitions were filed following a November High Court judgment, issued by an expanded panel, which held that in the absence of valid legislation exempting yeshiva students, the state must enforce conscription under existing law.<\/p>\n The court ordered the government to formulate, within 45 days, an effective and equitable enforcement policy, including the cessation of economic benefits tied directly or indirectly to draft evasion, and to initiate criminal proceedings against draft dodgers.<\/p>\n