Israel's supreme court orders army to start drafting ultra-orthodox men

[KowboyBob]

@Otherbrother

But this specific religious exemption was never about that. Back in 1948 in the wake of the Holocaust there were only 400 or so Orthodox religious scholars in Israel, and protecting that group was seen as vital for the future of a Jewish state, so the exemption was created. It makes much less sense today, purely from a numbers standpoint.

Well said. A widespread complaint from the majority secular Israeli population is the Haredi have for a long time received government subsidies and exemptions (along with incentives to produce large families) while wielding outsized political influence in the Knesset in order to pass more extreme right wing policies. Netanyahu made a Faustian bargain with these groups in order maintain power but that’s starting to unravel.