JERUSALEM - The Israeli military is set to issue call-up notices to 1,000 members of the ultra-Orthodox community on Sunday (July 14) as a divisive battle over drafting the religious Haredim into the army moves into a new phase.

The move follows a Supreme Court ruling last month that ordered the defence ministry to end the longstanding exemption from military service for Jewish seminary students under arrangements made soon after the birth of the state of Israel when their numbers were tiny.

The move has been bitterly opposed by the two religious parties in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, placing severe strains on the right-wing coalition formed after elections in 2022.

Leaders of the rapidly growing ultra-Orthodox community say that forcing seminary students to serve alongside secular Israelis including women risks destroying their identity as religious Jews. Some rabbis have urged anyone in their community who receives call-up orders to burn them.

Following the first set of call-ups, further notices for an initial total of 3,000 ultra-Orthodox conscripts are expected to be sent out in coming weeks.

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