Israel's High Court hears arguments against draft evasion arrest law
The court is considering five separate petitions challenging the law, which has sparked widespread criticism. Current assessments suggest the justices are expected to order the law's repeal
Israel's Supreme Court, sitting as the High Court of Justice, is hearing arguments Tuesday on the law for freezing the arrests of military draft evaders. The case is being heard before an expanded panel of nine justices, headed by Deputy President of the Supreme Court, Justice Noam Sohlberg.
They will be considering five petitions challenging the law, including two submitted by Members of Knesset Yair Lapid and Avigdor Lieberman.
At the start of the hearing, the Knesset representative stated, "The legislative process did not comply with the Knesset's rules of procedure. It was not the required legislative process. The legislative process did not meet the necessary high standard. The law was not enacted in accordance with the Knesset's rules of procedure. The conclusion is clear."
In response to this assertion, Justice Ofer Grosskopf asked, “So the law must be annulled?” The Knesset representative replied, “It appears there is no choice but to repeal the law.”
A representative of the Attorney General added: "It is not moral to do such a thing during a war."
However, it appeared as if the justices offered the prosecution more grace than to lawyers arguing in favor of the law, strongly objecting to arguments put forward by the attorney for the ultra-Orthodox organization Emet L'Yaakov.
Justice David Mintz, the most conservative judge on the court and who is also Orthodox, interjects, saying “challenging with astonishment Rosenblatt’s assertion that the Torah forbids military service enlistment.
In one moment, Rosenblatt tried to argue that “all the great rabbis of Israel” rejected enlistment under current circumstances. However, even the court's most conservative Judge, and Orthodox Jew David Mintz, retorted in shock, "I cannot believe what I’m hearing... You’re speaking in sectoral terms, with all due respect.” Mintz was referring to the fact that many revered Orthodox rabbis believed military service to be obligatory according to Torah, and said Rosenblatt was only referencing Hareidi rabbis.
Unlike previous cases in which disagreements between the Attorney General Gali Bahar-Miara and the government led ministers to seek separate legal representation, this time no such request was submitted this time.
In practice, both the Attorney General's Office and the Knesset's legal advisers acknowledge that the legislative process was flawed. Since the government is not separately represented at the hearing, the justices are expected to strike down the law.