In a High Court of Justice case 5658/23 The Movement for Quality Government in Israel v. The Knesset [Nevo] (January 1,2024) (hereinafter: High Court of Justice Likelihood), this Court ordered by a majority opinion the invalidation of Amendment 3 to the Basic Law: The Judiciary. This is due to its severe violation of two principles that are among the basic values of the State of Israel and its nuclear characteristics as a Jewish and democratic state, one of which is the principle of the rule of law. In this context, it was held that "The basic meaning of the principle of the rule of law in a democratic state is that 'no person or body is above the law'" (High Court of Justice Likelihood, paragraph 158 of the judgment of the President in the A. Hayut); and that a situation in which there is a legal obligation, but the means that enable its enforcement have been removed, in other words, "there is a law, but there is no judge", means an exemption from the obligation to obey the law - "In the absence of a judge, even the law against him will disappear" (ibid., para. 160).
The amendment to the law before us creates, in a clear way, a similar situation. As noted by my colleague the Vice-President v. Solberg (paragraph 65 of its judgment), the law does not detract in any way from the very duty of service imposed on yeshiva students as defined therein; and at the same time, it removes from them the criminal enforcement mechanisms that are intended to enforce and carry out this duty. This is also evident from the law's arrangements and purposes, which were changed in advance of the second and third readings - from the regulation of the obligation to serve in order to remove the means of enforcement (see at length in the opinion of my colleague the Vice-President v. Solberg).
According to the rule that was applied in the case of the High Court of Justice Likelihood As noted above, when the enforcement mechanisms of a valid legal duty - the duty to serve - were removed, the principle of the rule of law, which is one of the basic characteristics of the State of Israel as Jewish and democratic, was violated, and for this reason too, the law should be declared null and void.