Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men must also be required to serve in the Israeli army, the country's highest court said in a unanimous ruling on Tuesday.
The nine Supreme Court judges in Jerusalem ruled that there is no legal basis for exempting the ultra-Orthodox from compulsory military service and approved two petitions that had called for their immediate conscription. The ruling involves around 63,000 men.
"At the height of a harsh war, the burden of an unequal distribution is greater than ever and requires a solution," the court said in its judgement.
The issue of conscription has become an headache for the right-wing religious government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The stability of the coalition is jeopardized by the issue because the strict religious parties reject the conscription of young men from their communities.
There have been exemptions from compulsory military service for ultra-Orthodox men in Israel for decades. However, these exemptions expired three months ago and Netanyahu's government failed to pass legislation that would have cemented them in law.
As a result, the highest court ordered the cancellation of state subsidies for ultra-Orthodox men of conscription age who study in religious schools. At the end of March, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara also ruled that the military was obliged to conscript religious students who had previously been largely exempt.
Israel's army recently warned of a severe shortage of combat soldiers as it fights the Gaza war and faces a possible escalation of hostilities with the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon.
In Israel, men have to do three years of military service and women do two years. Some ultra-Orthodox men serve voluntarily. Strictly religious women are only recruited on a voluntary basis.
