The Supreme Court, sitting in a forum of 11 justices this morning, heard the arguments of both sides in the suit against the long-standing policy of allowing yeshiva students to defer their enlistment in the army - and decided to issue no ruling. This paves the way for the Knesset to complete legislating a relevant law.
The judges were critical of the Knesset for not having found a solution to the problem in the more than three years since it began dealing with the issue. They are not expected to rule on the matter in the near future, however - thus leaving the ball in the Knesset\'s court. Meretz MK Zahava Gal\'on, one of the MKs who brought the suit against the status quo, expressed her disappointment that the Supreme Court did not order the immediate draft of all eligible yeshiva students.
Background: The Supreme Court ruled in 1998 that the administrative order - in effect since the establishment of the State - under which the Defense Minister was permitted to issue exemptions to yeshiva students, was ruled to be an unacceptable method, and that the situation must be governed by law. Since then, what became known as the Tal Law passed its first Knesset reading, but was put on hold in the wake of strong objections by anti-hareidi groups.
The judges were critical of the Knesset for not having found a solution to the problem in the more than three years since it began dealing with the issue. They are not expected to rule on the matter in the near future, however - thus leaving the ball in the Knesset\'s court. Meretz MK Zahava Gal\'on, one of the MKs who brought the suit against the status quo, expressed her disappointment that the Supreme Court did not order the immediate draft of all eligible yeshiva students.
Background: The Supreme Court ruled in 1998 that the administrative order - in effect since the establishment of the State - under which the Defense Minister was permitted to issue exemptions to yeshiva students, was ruled to be an unacceptable method, and that the situation must be governed by law. Since then, what became known as the Tal Law passed its first Knesset reading, but was put on hold in the wake of strong objections by anti-hareidi groups.