“Israel needs haredi recruits, not haredi detainees,” the government said, arguing that arrests of yeshiva students could reverse a gradual increase in enlistment and risk civil war.

The law passed the Knesset on July 14. Justice Ofer Grosskopf froze it the following day and ordered the state and Knesset to explain why it should not be struck down.

The Knesset Legal Adviser told Israel's top court that the law was enacted through a flawed legislative process and contradicts the military's position on the need for additional…