Students of the Har Bracha yeshiva petitioned the Supreme Court Friday against Defense Minister Ehud Barak's recent decision to remove the school from the Hesder program, which mixes Jewish studies and military service. The school was ousted over remarks by the head of the yeshiva, Rabbi Eliezer Melamed, against the use of soldiers to uproot Jews from their homes in the land of Israel.

According to the petition, there was no legal basis for the decision, which was contaminated by invalid political considerations. The students say they are being collectively punished by the timing of the decision and made to pay the price of differences between the defense minister and the rabbi.