Israel's Supreme Court has reached a landmark decision in a case that has ruled that ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students can be drafted into the military.
Exemptions have long been an option for young men registered in full-time religious study, but a legal arrangement that allowed the practice to continue has expired.
The change in law seemingly looks to send shockwaves throughout Israel's governing coalition among the ultra-Orthodox and Haredi parties.
A waiver excluding ultra-Orthodox men from recruitment has become a more urgent issue due to the strain on the armed forces caused by the war in Gaza.
"In the midst of a grueling war, the burden of inequality is harsher than ever and demands a solution," the top justices said.
The Israeli military is most commonly known as "the People's Army," with most Israeli citizens required by law to serve.
Israel's highest court referenced the large numbers of soldiers that have recently been killed while fighting for their country, saying:
"Discrimination regarding the most precious thing of all-life itself-is of the worst kind."
One of the organizing petitioners, a non-profit group called the Movement for Quality Government in Israel, celebrated the ruling, labeling it a "historic victory" and summoning immediate action to recruit Jewish seminary, or yeshiva, students.
Data presented to the court suggested some 63,000 ultra-Orthodox men in full-time Torah study have been covered by the waiver, according to the BBC.
This means that they now potentially face the draft.
Shmuel Horowitz, a lawyer who represented a yeshiva association before the court, told the news outlet that he "was not surprised by the decision but disappointed," adding that "the courts are not the appropriate forum to solve these kinds of social issues."
Further, Horowitz stated that the men "adhere to their rabbis and don't care much for court."
It's important to note that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government relies heavily on two ultra-Orthodox parties for its survival and views conscription exemptions as a top political priority.
Shas leader Aryeh Deri issued a statement in response to the ruling:
"There is no power in the world that can cut off the people of Israel from studying the Torah, and anyone who has tried this in the past has failed miserably," he said.
Meanwhile, Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf, the leader of United Torah Judaism, defiantly vowed that "the Holy Torah will prevail."
The history of exemptions for the ultra-Orthodox dates back to 1949, a year after the state of Israel was created.
