This week, the Movement for Quality of Government in Israel appealed to minister Yariv Levin – acting minister of the interior, and to the attorney general, Adv. Gali Baharav Miara, demanding that the allocation of public land to Torah educational institutions where yeshiva students who are evading military service study must be stopped immediately.
The appeal is based on the High Court of Justice ruling from June 2024 in the Movement’s petition against the minister of defense, which determined that after the expiration of Art. 31 of the Defense Service Law in July 2023, there is no longer any legal authority to support Torah institutions that include draft dodgers. Despite this ruling, many local authorities in Israel continue to allocate expensive land without charge to these institutions.
Adv. Ori Hess, Head of the economic department of the Movement for Quality Government in Israel: “We are witnessing a worrying phenomenon in which local authorities are transferring support worth tens of millions of shekels to Torah institutions in explicit violation of the High Court ruling and the instructions of the attorney general. This is an illegal distribution of public assets that severely violates the principle of equality in recruitment. After the victory in the national insurance matter, we continue to fight all illegal support for draft evaders. Draft dodgers cannot be allowed to receive financial benefits at the public’s expense while violating High Court rulings.”