A majority of Israel’s Supreme Court judges on Tuesday accepted petitions against the Tal Law, which provides an exemption from military service to yeshiva students. The ruling also reveals the sharp differences between outgoing, activist Chief Justice Dorit Beinisch, who advocated nullification of the law, and the incoming president of the incoming, conservative Chief Asher Grunis who sought to reject the petitions.
Beinisch wrote: “Time has proven that the law has not fulfilled its underlying purposes, and, in fact, anchored the law, almost entirely, in the deferment arrangement that existed prior to its enactment and vice versa.”
The new Chief Justice for his part, wrote: “I would have preferred that the court avoid the issue altogether, leaving it in the public sphere, outside the realm of the court.”
