ITIM organization asks High Court to bar draft evaders from Rabbinate exam benefits

ITIM organization petitions the High Court against the Chief Rabbinate, demanding that men who have not regularized their military status be barred from using yeshiva study to qualify for rabbinical certification exams, citing state benefits tied to the exams. The petition argues that state benefits should not be awarded based on study completed while failing to comply with military service obligations. The court ordered a preliminary response by September 14.

The ITIM organization petitioned the High Court of Justice against the Chief Rabbinate on Wednesday, demanding that men who have not regularized their military status be prevented from using yeshiva study completed during that period to qualify for rabbinical certification exams. The case concerns more than the right to sit an examination: Chief Rabbinate certificates can substitute for academic qualifications in some public-sector positions and grant access to higher salary rankings. ITIM argued that the state cannot award those benefits on the basis of study completed while an applicant was failing to comply with his legal obligation to report for military service. The petition comes as the High Court prepares to rule on a separate law passed earlier this month that sought to suspend enforcement proceedings against qualifying ultra-Orthodox men who fail to report for service. Justice Ofer Grosskopf froze the law the day after it passed; a nine-justice panel heard arguments and kept the freeze in place. The petition lists the Chief Rabbinate, its Examinations and Certification Department, and the Religious Services Ministry as respondents. The court ordered them to submit a preliminary response by September 14. ITIM is asking the court to rule that study completed while an applicant's military status was unresolved cannot count toward the three-year requirement. The petition does not seek to restrict exams to those who served; a lawful exemption or deferment would satisfy the requirement. The petition also cited earlier rulings concerning National Insurance Institute discounts, where the court accepted that the legal category of 'yeshiva student' did not include someone who had failed to regularize his military status when that classification produced a state benefit.