Greek Tragedy: Gideon Sapir on Why He Is Now Critical of the Israeli Supreme Court’s Decisions on Religious Exemption from Military Service

In Rubinstein v. The Minister of Defense (1998) and several subsequent cases, the Israeli Supreme Court invalidated executive branch administrative acts and Knesset laws granting exemptions from military service for ultra-Orthodox Jewish Yeshiva students. In its reasoning, the Supreme Court mainly referred to separation-of-power and equality issues. While he initially supported some of these decisions, Gideon Sapir (Bar-Ilan University) eventually changed his opinion for several reasons explained in this video.

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Torah, War, Politics, and the Supreme Court: The 2024 Military Service of Ultra-Orthodox Yeshiva Students Bill

Moshe Jaffe is a constitutional law adjunct professor at the Academic Center of Law and Science in Israel and an adjunct professor at Cardozo School of Law. He is also a SJD candidate at the University of Michigan Law School.

Introduction

The tragic events of 7 October and the subsequent war in Gaza have reignited longstanding tension in Israel regarding the draft of Ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students. This issue has been impacted as well by recent rulings of the Israeli Supreme Court, which have brought the matter back into public debate. This post aims to simplify this extremely complex issue and guide the reader through developments leading to the recent bill currently being considered by the Knesset. Given the brevity of this post, its focus is on recent developments and specifically on the 2024 bill rather than a comprehensive historical review.

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Religious Right to Abortion: A Recent U.S. Appeals Court Decision

Frederick Mark Gedicks is Guy Anderson Chair and Professor of Law at the J. Reuben Clark Law School, Brigham Young University.

An appeals court in the U.S. state of Indiana recently found a religious right to abortion under the state’s religious freedom statute (Individual Members of the Med. Licensing Bd. v. Anonymous Plaintiff 1 (Indiana Ct. App. Apr. 4, 2024)). However startling its holding, the court’s analysis is doctrinally orthodox, closely following U.S. Supreme Court precedent applying the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause and the 1993 federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act to claims for religious exemptions.

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