Legal Adviser to the Supreme Court: "The law freezing deserters' arrests is unconstitutional — it must be repealed"
In an opinion ahead of the hearing on the law that the Haredi parties insisted on, the Legal Adviser determines that "this is an extreme and clear case of a defective and harmful legislative arrangement" • According to her, the law imposes a severe, unbearable burden of service on the shoulders of those serving in the regular forces and in reserve • She asks the Supreme Court to turn the interim order that froze the law into a decision that will set it aside.
The Legal Adviser to the Government states today (Friday), in a position she submitted to the Supreme Court, that the law freezing deserters' arrests is unconstitutional — and that it must be repealed.
In the opinion, the Legal Adviser determines that this is "an extreme and clear case of a defective and harmful legislative arrangement that does not meet all the tests of the limitation clause... In light of the defects, the position of the respondents is that the order nisi given should be turned into an absolute order — and that the invalidation of Amendment 28 should be ordered".
Further on, the Legal Adviser refers to "the unprecedented multi-theater security reality in which the State of Israel finds itself". According to her, "there is an urgent security need to increase the manpower of regular service in order to fill the ranks of the army and reinforce the fighting array. Avoiding the conscription of tens of thousands of those liable for conscription and freezing the enforcement proceedings against them for the period set in the amendment preserves and perpetuates improper discrimination, which the Supreme Court has already returned to and reiterated its unconstitutionality time after time".
The existing situation, in which the IDF does not enforce the conscription law on candidates for service from the Haredi sector, according to the Legal Adviser, imposes in a severe and unbearable manner the burden of service on the shoulders of those serving in the regular forces and in reserve — as well as on their family members. It should be recalled that even before there was a discussion of the petitions, the Supreme Court issued an interim order that freezes the entry into force of the amendment — and issued an order nisi. Now the Legal Adviser is asking to turn it into a permanent decision that will nullify the law.
Storm in the Knesset — drama in the Supreme Court
The law in question: "The Conscription Law (Amendment No. 28 — Temporary Provision), 5786-2026", froze the possibility of arresting, investigating, or taking criminal proceedings against yeshiva students who did not report for service, as long as they declared that "their Torah is their craft".
58 Knesset members supported the law that was approved shortly before the closing of the last Knesset session before the elections, against 54 who opposed. Knesset members Dan Ilouz, Moshe Salmon, Sharen Shakel and Yuli Edelstein voted against the bill. Knesset members Ofir Super, Michal Voldiger, Gilad Gamli'el, Moshe Pesal and Galit Distel did not participate in the vote.
Less than a day after a series of petitions were filed against the law freezing deserters' arrests, Supreme Court judge Ofer Grosskopf issued an interim order that immediately suspends the law's entry into force.
In his short but resonant decision, which included less than one page, Grosskopf clarified that the claims raised by the petitioners against the law's validity carry substantial weight. "Taking into account this court's long-standing ruling on the matter of conscripting yeshiva students, the significance of freezing arrest, investigation, and enforcement proceedings with respect to only certain parts of the population, and the weighty claims raised by the petitioners — an order nisi is hereby issued instructing the respondents to provide reasons why the Conscription Law should not be repealed".
The political angle: the law that tears the coalition apart
It should be noted that the government did not request separate representation in the petitions, but the Government Secretary Yossi Fox will convey his position separately. Sources told "Hayom" that "Der'i believes this is a rigged game and that it will simply give legitimacy to the Supreme Court, and therefore he decided there would be no representation".
The law repealing deserters' arrests is the law that tears the coalition apart from within, because it effectively enables discrimination between "regular" deserters and "Haredi" deserters and enables the project of evasion. At the political level, the coalition passed the law and now it is giving the Legal Adviser representation of it, even though her position is against the law. The Government Secretary will send a written position, but there will be no representation in the petition of an attorney who argues in favor of the law.
